Does Flipped Learning Promote Positive Emotions in Science Education? A Comparison between Traditional and Flipped Classroom Approaches

Abstract

: Flipped learning has become a popular approach for supporting higher education, but less is known about its link with the learners’ emotions, which are known to play an important role in science education. The main purpose of this study is to analyse the effects of the flipped learning approach on students’ learning emotions. This research utilised a quasi‑experimental design with two data collection time points (pre‑ and post‑study). The sample involved 65 students from the science track in one Saudi university. The participants were distributed into two groups, taught by the traditional and the flipped learning methods respectively. Data collection took place over a period of 4 study weeks. The results show that the flipped mode group had obtained higher learning emotions mean score compared to its traditional counterpart, and they showed improvement in learning emotions mean score over the period of the study. The findings indicate that further study is needed both to validate the current study in a different context , and also to determine how the flipped learning environment can better support students’ interactions and their emotions.