Flipped classrooms in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings and future research recommendations

Abstract

Flipped classroom (FC) approaches have gotten substantial attention in the last decade because they have a potential to stimulate student engagement as well as active and collaborative learning. The FC is generally defined as a strategy that flips the traditional education setting, i.e., the information transmission component of a traditional face-to-face lecture is moved out of class time. The FC relies on technology and is therefore suitable for online or blended learning, which were predominant forms of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-July 2021). In this paper we present a systematic literature review (SLR) of studies that covered online FC approaches in higher education during the pandemic. We analyzed 205 publications in total and 18 in detail. Our research questions were related to the main findings about the success of implementation of online FC and recommendations for future research. The findings indicated that those who had used FC approaches in face-to-face or blended learning environments more successfully continued to use them in online environments than those who had not used it before. The SLR opened possible questions for future research, such as the effectiveness of the FC for different courses and contexts, the cognitive and emotional aspects of student engagement, and students' data protection. It pointed to the need to examine different aspects of online delivery of the FC more comprehensively, and with more research rigor.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Flipped classroom; Higher education; Learning design; Online learning; Systematic literature review.

Fig. 1

Phases included in the review

Fig. 2

Study fields, countries, approaches and types of research covered in the sample

Fig. 3

An overview of the major topics explored by the studies