Research project University chemistry courses have for a long time had a similar approach to teaching, with chemistry professors lecturing in a traditional manner. Today, flipped learning approaches have found their ways into higher education and positive results from for example the US have been spread and made Swedish university chemistry teachers interested and curious to develop their courses in a similar way.
The rationale of flipped learning is to incorporate an active learning approach in the lecture halls and thereby hopefully both increase student engagement and learning outcomes The purpose of this study is to explore university chemistry students’ both affective and cognitive responses to a new learning approach, i.e., flipped learning. Through investigating how students work with the teaching material developed for this new approach, how they perceive their own learning, and by studying their opinions about flipped teaching.
In this study, an implementation project where an organic chemistry course will change focus from traditional teaching to flipped learning will be explored. The focus will be on university students’ both affective and cognitive experiences when meeting a new teaching and learning approach. This study will apply a mixed-methods approach, based on ideas from previous flipped learning studies.
In the pre-lecture learning step, on-line lectures are available to the students who are supposed to look them through before coming to class. After watching the lectures, short quizzes are given that the students are supposed to solve the evening before the scheduled class. The teacher looks the quiz results through before going to class to be updated on students’ responses and thereby their potential misconceptions. In the second step, during the scheduled lessons, in-class collaborative group learning focuses difficulties and ambiguities students have observed in their preparations. Students work with problem solving and peer instruction is observed and explored.
