Flipped classroom improves student learning in health professions education.

The key points of “Flipped Classroom Improves Student Learning in Health Professions Education: A Meta-Analysis” are as follows:

1. Effectiveness of Flipped Classrooms: The meta-analysis of 28 comparative studies showed that flipped classrooms lead to a significant improvement in student learning compared to traditional classrooms. The overall effect size was SMD = 0.33, with a confidence interval of 0.21–0.46, favoring the flipped approach.
2. Quizzes Enhance Learning: The flipped classroom approach is more effective when quizzes are employed at the beginning of each in-class session. These quizzes help reinforce pre-class learning, improve student recall, and address misconceptions early.
3. Student Preference: On average, 70% of students preferred the flipped classroom model over traditional teaching methods. Students appreciated the flexibility of pre-recorded lectures, which allowed them to learn at their own pace and review materials multiple times.
4. Active Learning in Class: The flipped model allows more class time for active learning activities, such as group discussions and problem-solving. These activities increase student engagement, promote peer interaction, and enhance understanding of course materials.
5. No Evidence of Publication Bias: The meta-analysis found no publication bias, confirming the reliability of the overall findings.
6. Challenges of Flipped Learning: Some students reported that pre-class video lectures required additional time and effort, which they found burdensome. To mitigate this, the study recommends limiting video lectures to around 20 minutes and explaining the benefits of flipped learning to students upfront.
7. Future Research: The study suggests further research to explore the impact of different video styles on learning, as well as longitudinal studies to assess the long-term retention of knowledge in flipped classrooms.

“Having quizzes at the beginning of class also allows an instructor to identify students’ possible misconceptions of the pre-class materials. Students’ misconceptions can prevent further learning if not addressed. Based on student performance, instructors can provide remedial action if necessary such as reviewing the pre-class video lectures or making adjustments to the in-class teaching plans to specifically address the students’ misconceptions. The use of quizzes at the beginning of an in-class lesson can also serve as a strong motivator for students to watch the pre-class video lectures [34, 50]. This finding thus implies that instructors use quizzes as a regular part of the in-class activities to assess students’ mastery of the pre-class learning materials. Students who preferred a traditional classroom reported that watching video lectures took a lot of additional time [13]. In a traditional class, students learn about the subject matter through a teacher-led lecture format during class time [13]; however in a flipped class students are now required to watch the video lectures before class. Students were unhappy being asked to do work at home that was traditionally done in a face-to-face class format, and considered watching the pre-class videos as burdensome in terms of time [13].“

This finding thus implies that instructors who wish to employ flipped classroom should first promote students’ understanding of this new instructional approach by explaining the rationale, and potential benefits of flipped classroom [20]. In addition, instructors may consider limiting total length of all combined video segments to about 20 min. Support for this comes from several non health professions education-related flipped classroom studies [58, 59] which reported that most students spent up to 20–25 min on viewing pre-class video lectures.“