The Human Limitations of Flipped Science Instruction: Exploring Students Learning and Perceptions of Flipped Teaching

Flipped instruction—the replacement of traditional in-class lecture with at-home, multimedia instruction— continues to grow in popularity. The existing evidence to support its effectiveness in K-12 science classrooms lacks substantial quantitative data to warrant such an enthusiastic embrace. The objective of this study was to clarify the relationship between flipped instruction and student learning in a high school classroom context, as well as to understand the interactions between students and technological tools that took place during flipped instruction. This quasi-experimental mixed-methods study compared learning outcomes in high school Biology students (N= 303) who experienced a flipped lesson to those of peers who experienced a control, traditional lecturebased lesson on the same topic. Average gains from pre-test to post-test were significantly higher for flipped students. Flipped students' completion of the out-of-class online learning activity was particularly important. Interview data suggest that the multimedia nature of the online activity, as well as its convenience, contributed the significant gains of flipped students.