Investigating psychological safety in a flipped engineering course

Abstract

Psychological safety (PS) refers to the shared belief that a team environment is safe for taking interpersonal risks (i.e., it is ok to be wrong or assert new ideas). PS has been shown to improve the cohesiveness of co-workers and improve group problem solving in various situations. In the flipped classroom model of instruction students watch video lectures before coming to class, then participate in structured learning activies during class meeting times. In flipped classes that use small group or team based learning activities during class, which many do, students' level of PS, willing to ask questions, make mistakes, and address new ideas for a topic without fear of negative feedback from peers, might be an important factor in their experience of the flipped class. For this paper, we collected self-report data from students enrolled in a flipped section of Calculus III. Students were asked to answer validated survey questions about PS to assess their current level of PS at different times in the course. We used this data to assess students' PS at the beginning of a flipped class, and examine whether PS changes over the course of the semester in a flipped class. The results of this study will inform educators about how PS builds in the team environment within a flipped classroom of Calculus III. Additionally, the findings of this study may highlight ways that some of the disadvantages to PS in the flipped classroom can be addressed so that they are not a detriment to student success.