The Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Mathematics Concept Learning in High School

Introduction Mathematics is one of the important subjects in our school curriculum. "In the present quantitatively complex society, a person needs a functional knowledge of mathematical content to make informed decisions as a citizen and as a worker" (Wilkins & Ma, 2003, p. 1). However, Manjul Bhargava, an ace number theorist, who has recently won the Fields Medal, has mentioned that mathematics is taught as a robotic subject (Rajghatta, 2014). This leads the students to struggle in understanding mathematics courses in high school (Offer & Bos, 2009). In fact, mathematics educators are facing one of the major challenges to improve the performance of the students in mathematics (Tan & Tan, 2015). With the rapid advancement in educational technology, many researchers have recommended the use of technology across the mathematics curriculum as it produces positive results in learning and understanding the concepts (Lazakidou & Retalis, 2010; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2006). Researchers and practitioners have been exploring alternative strategies and teaching methods to engage and motivate the students in learning process. The flipped classroom is one of those alternatives. Many researchers have described the flipped classroom as a model in which learners access the online video lectures uploaded by the instructor prior to the classroom sessions and use class time to participate in meaningful learning activities, instructor-guided problem solving, and discussions (Bergmann, Overmyer, & Wilie, 2012; Chen, Wang, Kinshuk, & Chen, 2014; Fautch, 2015; Hughes, 2012). In addition, the flipped classroom allows the learners to learn at their own pace (Davies, Dean, & Ball, 2013). This results in a paradigm shift from the teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach (Kong, 2014). Research evidence, on the use of the flipped classroom in the teaching and learning of various disciplines, including statistics, chemistry, English, nursing, engineering, and pharmacy (Davies et al., 2013; Fautch, 2015; Hung, 2015; Mason, Shuman, & Cook, 2013; Missildine, Fountain, Summers, & Gosselin, 2013; Schultz, Duffield, Rasmuseen, & Wageman, 2014; Strayer, 2012; Wilson, 2013) is available, but research in high-school mathematics appears to be limited. To fill this gap, the present study examined the effectiveness of the flipped classroom model on mathematics concept learning in high school. Theoretical background The cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML) was proposed by Mayer (2001). It was based on dual code theory (Paivio, 1986) and cognitive load theory (Chandler & Sweller, 1991). CTML centered on three assumptions: dual channels, which considered human to possess separate channels for information processing, an auditory/verbal channel and a visual/pictorial channel (Baddeley, 1992; Paivio, 1986); limited capacity, which postulated that human working memory has limited capacity for information processing (Baddeley, 1992; Chandler & Sweller, 1991); and active processing, which means humans must actively select, organize, and store information for long-term memory (Wittrock, 1989). CTML explains why the flipped classroom may improve learning. The flipped classroom incorporated some of the designed principles of the CTML: * the multimedia principle, which states that students learn better from words and pictures than words alone (Mayer, 2001). The flipped classroom can implement this principle by providing videos that contain text and pictures along with narration. * the modality principle, which states that students learn better from narration rather than on-screen text (Mayer, 2001). The flipped classroom can implement this principle by providing the explanation of the problem solving in mathematics. * the individual differences principle, which states that all design principles have a stronger effect on lowknowledge learners. …