The Effects of Flipped Learning in Using English Novels by Korean University Students

Abstract

Flipping the classroom has got attention as an innovative teaching method that emphasizes student-centered learning in various fields of subject across different levels of education. This study shows the effects of flipped learning using literature to engineering majors at a university. Students in a flipped learning (FL) class watched a video material related to the content of the novel as a flipped learning process and prepared for particular roles for various class discussion activities before they came to a class. In contrast, students in a non-flipped learning (NFL) class did not watch a video and class discussion topics were provided by the instructor in class. Other class procedures, such as novels used and quizzes, were the same in the two classes. The cloze test scores for testing English ability improved more for the FL class (13%)than for the NFL class (51%) in the posttest. Surprisingly, however, the score of class satisfaction was lower for the FL class (3.7) than for the NFL class(4.1). The results show that although the FL class was more effective to improve students’ performance than the NFL class, students’ satisfaction for the class showed the opposite results. This suggests that the pre-class video watching and preparation for the next class seem to provide a heavier burden to the FL students, leading to less satisfaction for the class, even though FL was more effective to improve their English ability. The discrepancy between student performance and satisfaction in the FL setting needs to be considered for its effective implementation.