The application of flipped classroom in undergraduate epidemiology teaching

Abstract

Objective To explore the application effect of flipped classroom in the epidemiological teaching for undergraduate, so as to obtain students' attitudes and evaluations of flipped classroom. Methods Totally 2 classes of preventive medical students of Grade 2013 in Tianjin Medical University were selected. They were divided into experimental group and control group, each class have 60 students. Flipped classroom was used in the experimental group while traditional teaching was used in the control group. The theory test scores, practice scores, case analysis scores and total scores of the two groups were compared to evaluate the teaching effect before and after the course. A questionnaire was used in the experimental group to investigate their attitudes and evaluations about flipped classroom. Results After the course was implemented, the theory scores (t=5.762, P<0.001), case analysis scores (t=7.525, P<0.001) and total scores (t=7.947, P<0.001) of the experimental group were higher than those of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant. Most of the students in the experimental group had positive attitude on the flipped classroom. Conclusions The flipped classroom education in undergraduate learning epidemiological teaching has shown a better learning outcome. Flipped classroom was highly rated by students who have accepted the teaching. Flipped classroom is an effective teaching, which can be used as a reference for further epidemiology teaching in undergraduate. Key words: Flipped classroom; Epidemiology; Teaching model; Teaching evaluation