Applying “First Principles of Instruction” as a design theory of the flipped classroom: Findings from a collective study of four secondary school subjects
Introduction
The flipped classroom approach has become increasingly popular in recent years (Abeysekera and Dawson, 2015, Giannakos et al., 2014). The fundamental purpose of this instructional approach is to enable a more effective use of time inside the classroom, with the teachers being available for immediate feedback and assistance (Bergmann and Sams, 2008, Lage et al., 2000, O'Flaherty and Phillips, 2015). One primary strategy of flipping is to deliver the lecture contents outside of the classroom through videos (Abeysekera and Dawson, 2015, Bishop and Verleger, 2013, Lo and Hew, 2017a). With some basic knowledge acquired before class, the students can then devote more in-class time to active learning exercises such as collaborative problem-solving, team-based discussions, or student presentations (Bergmann and Sams, 2008, Lage et al., 2000, O'Flaherty and Phillips, 2015), which can be conducted with a teacher's guidance.
The growing interest in using the flipped classroom approach has been accompanied by an increasing number of empirical studies (Giannakos et al., 2014, Huber and Werner, 2016, Karabulut-Ilgu et al., 2017). The existing reviews of such studies (e.g., Bernard, 2015, Betihavas et al., 2016, Karabulut-Ilgu et al., 2017, Lo and Hew, 2017a, O'Flaherty and Phillips, 2015, Seery, 2015) have generally suggested that this instructional approach is at least as effective as its traditional lecture-based format in terms of student achievement. However, it is worth noting that most of these reviews have focused on higher education contexts. Few studies have been done to compare flipped and non-flipped classrooms in K-12 schools (Gough et al., 2017, Lo and Hew, 2017a). Currently, we know little about the efficacy of K-12 flipped classrooms compared with their non-flipped counterparts. Clearly, further research is needed to evaluate the flipped classroom approach in K-12 educational contexts (Gough et al., 2017, Lo and Hew, 2017a).
More importantly, the design of flipped classrooms is currently under-theorized (Abeysekera and Dawson, 2015, Karabulut-Ilgu et al., 2017, Song et al., 2017). Song et al. (2017) lamented that a large number of studies on the flipped classroom approach have fallen short of presenting strong theoretical underpinnings for their pedagogical designs. Kim, Kim, Khera, and Getman (2014) argued that the efficacy of flipped classrooms could be affected in unforeseen ways if implemented without a theory-driven framework.
This study aims to overcome the aforementioned gaps in research. The main purpose of this study is to address the question of how teachers can design and implement flipped classrooms in ways that benefit the learners. Specifically, we report the effects of applying a highly cited meta-theory of instructional design, the “First Principles of Instruction,” which was authored by Merrill (2002). We use this theory to support teachers' day-to-day pedagogical practices of designing and implementing flipped classrooms. Specifically, we apply Merrill's framework in the design of flipped classes in four K-12 subjects, namely mathematics, physics, Chinese language, and information and communication technology (ICT). The following research questions are thus formulated:
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What is the effect of using the “First Principles of Instruction” to design flipped classrooms on student achievement?
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What are teachers' perceptions of using the “First Principles of Instruction” to design flipped classrooms?
Our study involved implementing and evaluating flipped classrooms in two secondary schools in Hong Kong. Student achievement was measured by baseline assessments and post-course exams. The teachers' perceptions of the flipped classroom approach were investigated through semi-structured interviews. These evaluations allowed us to examine the students' achievements and the teachers’ experiences across different subject disciplines.
Section snippets
Conceptual framework
This study was developed in two stages. First, we drew upon Merrill’s (2002) conceptual framework for instructional design, the First Principles of Instruction, to analyze the major instructional activities of flipped classrooms. Second, we conducted empirical research to examine how teachers could best utilize these principles to design flipped classrooms.
Research design
Before conducting a larger scale implementation, it is advisable to test the use of the flipped classroom model through a small-scale intervention study (Abeysekera & Dawson, 2015). This study was thus divided into two stages – the pilot study (Study 1) and the main study (Study 2). As Table 4 shows, this study involved a total of 382 Grade 8 to 12 students (flipped = 207; non-flipped = 175). In Study 1, we applied Merrill's (2002) framework to design two Grade 12 flipped mathematics modules. A
Student achievement
Analyses of the baseline assessment indicated that the flipped groups and their non-flipped counterparts in the four courses (i.e., mathematics, physics, Chinese language, and ICT) were on the same levels in terms of their initial abilities.
For the physics course, an independent sample t-test was conducted to examine the difference in student achievement between the flipped and non-flipped groups (Table 9). The post-course exam scores were significantly higher (t(242) = 2.295, p = .023) for the
General discussion
This study explored how Merrill's (2002) First Principles of Instruction could be used to guide the design and implementation of flipped classrooms. Overall, the teacher participants agreed that the proposed model (Fig. 2) was useful for guiding their flipped classroom practices. The results of the main study (Study 2) are discussed in four main sections: student achievement, the out-of-class learning component, the in-class learning component, and recommendations for future practices.
Conclusion and recommendations for future research
This report conveys our experience of a two-stage study of the flipped classroom approach. We developed our flipped classroom model by applying Merrill's (2002) First Principles of Instruction. We investigated the activation, demonstration, and application phases for the out-of-class learning components in a series of courses in various subjects. With the experience gained in the study's pilot stage, we refined the flipped classroom model for the main stage of the study by applying all of the
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