Flipped classroom experiences and their impact on engineering students’ attitudes towards university-level mathematics

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the impact of a Course Transformation process based on a Flipped Classroom strategy on Chilean Engineering students’ attitudes toward university-level mathematics. The Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory (ATMI) questionnaire was applied as both pre- and post-test to 76 students in three mathematic courses (Calculus I, Calculus II and Elements of Algebra for Computing) at Universidad Católica de Temuco's Faculty of Engineering which adopted a flipped classroom method. The results showed a significant positive change in the perceived value of mathematics in the four ATMI categories (P < 0.05) with different effect sizes after the implementation of the flipped classroom and active learning strategies. The results suggest that the implementation of transformed courses using a Flipped Classroom method has a positive effect on students’ attitudes toward Mathematics, especially in those who come from families with lower economical income.

[1]  J. Piaget.  The Language and Thought of the Child , 1927 .

[3]  Cemalettin Yıldız,et al.  Examining elementary school students’ attitudes towards mathematics in terms of some variables , 2009 .

[4]  C. Wieman,et al.  Transforming Physics Education , 2005 .

[5]  L. Abeysekera,et al.  Motivation and cognitive load in the flipped classroom: definition, rationale and a call for research , 2015 .

[6]  P. K. Julian.  The Effects of a Project-based Course on Students’ Attitudes Toward Mathematics And Students’ Achievement at a Two-year College , 2017, The Mathematics Enthusiast.

[7]  Michelle K. Smith,et al.  Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics , 2014, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[8]  E. Chang,et al.  The “flipped classroom” approach: Stimulating positive learning attitudes and improving mastery of histology among medical students , 2017, Anatomical sciences education.

[9]  E. Fennema,et al.  Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales: Instruments Designed to Measure Attitudes Toward the Learning of Mathematics by Females and Males. , 1976 .

[10]  George Philippou,et al.  ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS , SELF-EFFICACY AND ACHIEVEMENT IN PROBLEM - , 2003 .

[11]  Jeremy F. Strayer.  How learning in an inverted classroom influences cooperation, innovation and task orientation , 2012 .

[12]  S. Reid.  A flipped classroom redesign in general chemistry , 2016 .

[13]  สุธััญญา ด้วงอินทร์,et al.  Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day , 2017 .

[14]  Betty Love,et al.  Student learning and perceptions in a flipped linear algebra course , 2014 .

[15]  Mohd Nazri Ismail,et al.  FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT , 2011 .

[16]  Gilah C. Leder,et al.  New Perspectives on the Gender Stereotyping of Mathematics , 2004 .

[17]  S. Fernberger.  The language and thought of the child. , 1927 .

[18]  Veselin Jungic,et al.  On flipping the classroom in large first year calculus courses , 2015 .

[19]  L. Fink,et al.  Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses , 2003 .

[20]  E. Mazur,et al.  Peer Instruction: Ten years of experience and results , 2001 .

[21]  J. Tassell,et al.  Perceptions of Mathematics and Gender , 2008 .

[22]  Anne C. Frenzel,et al.  Girls and mathematics —A “hopeless” issue? A control-value approach to gender differences in emotions towards mathematics , 2007 .

[23]  D. Chalmers,et al.  Developing and implementing a robust and flexible framework for the evaluation and impact of educational development in higher education in Chile , 2018, International Journal for Academic Development.

[24]  C. Wieman,et al.  A Thoughtful Approach to Instruction: Course Transformation for the Rest of Us , 2011 .

[25]  Bridget G. Trogden.  The View from a Flipped Classroom: Improved Student Success and Subject Mastery in Organic Chemistry , 2015 .

[26]  Charles B. Hodges,et al.  Improving college students’ attitudes toward mathematics , 2013 .

[27]  Mathematics education in Lebanon: gender differences in attitudes and achievement , 2017 .

[28]  Hussain Waheed,et al.  Secondary students’ attitude towards mathematics in a selected school of Maldives , 2011 .

[29]  George E. Marsh,et al.  An Instrument to Measure Mathematics Attitudes , 2004 .

[30]  Ana Paula Lopes,et al.  Perception and performance in a flipped Financial Mathematics classroom , 2018 .

[31]  Eugene G. Kowch,et al.  Designing effective instruction , 2004 .

[32]  Zandra de Araujo,et al.  Mathematics teachers' motivations for, conceptions of, and experiences with flipped instruction , 2017 .

[33]  Alejandro Peña-Ayala,et al.  Learning Analytics: Fundaments, Applications, and Trends , 2017 .

[34]  I. Galindo.  Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day. By Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams. Alexandria, Va.: The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2012. ix + 112 pages. ISBN 978‐1‐56484‐315‐9. $13.57. , 2014 .

[35]  David T. Brookes,et al.  Student Response to a Partial Inversion of an Organic Chemistry Course for Non-Chemistry Majors , 2015 .

[36]  M. Cole,et al.  Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. L. S. Vygotsky. , 1978 .

[37]  Robin H. Kay,et al.  Evaluating the use of problem-based video podcasts to teach mathematics in higher education , 2012, Comput. Educ..

[38]  Katherine K. Perkins,et al.  Transforming the Junior Level: Outcomes from Instruction and Research in E&M. , 2012 .

[39]  Steven J. Pollock,et al.  Sustaining Educational Reforms in Introductory Physics. , 2008, 0805.0277.

[40]  G. Boulton‐Lewis.  Teaching for quality learning at university , 2008 .

[41]  Scott A. Reid,et al.  Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Student Performance and Retention: A Parallel Controlled Study in General Chemistry , 2016 .

[42]  K. Trigwell,et al.  Development and Use of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory , 2004 .

[43]  Mike Eaton.  The flipped classroom , 2017, The clinical teacher.