Study on a Flipped Learning-based Online Discussion Class Case and its Effectiveness

Abstract

This study aims not only to search for how to apply ‘Flipped Learning’ to online learning situations, but also to prove its relevant effectiveness. In order to achieve the research goals, the study targeted foreign students studying in a domestic university and proposed a case in which Flipped Learning is applied to an online discussion class. The class was composed of three stages, namely Pre-learning, Learning in Progress and Advanced Learning. At the stage of Pre-learning, after acquiring the basic knowledge of culture which they are supposed to know as a university student, the learners autonomously understand a topic in the process of asking themselves questions. At the stage of Learning in Progress, after hearing a short lecture by a professor which addresses some of their questions, the learners get involved in problem-solving and discussion topic-analyzing Afterwards, the learners engage in a group discussion and share their results. At the stage of Advanced Learning, with feedback from the professor, the learners carry out a reflective evaluation and engage in self-evaluation journal writing, and finally internalize their learning results.</br>The study applied the learning method above mentioned for one semester, and verified its effectiveness by conducting a Korean language proficiency-based satisfaction survey on the learners. The findings show that for a majority of students this method helped them attain new knowledge and improved their debating abilities. However, when it came to the beginner learners, their lack of linguistic resources resulted in a decrease of their satisfaction with this program compared with the level of satisfaction found among the intermediate-post intermediate learners. We suggest that this problem be investigated further in following studies.