Evaluating Student Engagement With and Perceptions of a Flipped Classroom Design for a Large Statistics Subject

Oct 15, 2026

Preliminary findings report on a 2021 flipped classroom design for a large statistics course at the University of Melbourne, using pre-recorded videos and quizzes. Student surveys are analyzed alongside metadata describing engagement with electronic resources to quantify how learners interact with the course. The study identifies which activities and resources contribute most to student learning outcomes, with success primarily defined by overall grades.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Evaluation of the flipped classroom

Research Design

Overview of methodology

Evaluating Student Engagement With and Perceptions of a Flipped Classroom Design for a Large Statistics Subject Paul WT Fijn University of Melbourne [paul.fijn@unimelb.edu.au](paul.fijn@unimelb.edu.au) Alba Santin Garcia University of Melbourne [alba.santingarcia@unimelb.edu.au](alba.santingarcia@unimelb.edu.au) We present the preliminary results from a project investigating a large statistics class designed for and taught using a flipped classroom model, with pre-recorded videos. The study, undertaken in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, utilised student surveys in conjunction with metadata on their engagement with electronic resources. This preliminary investigation focuses on the quantitative aspects of the study. We aimed to identify which particular resources or activities were most beneficial to student learning. Overall, all engagement with the course, whether assessed or not assessed, contributed positively to students’ learning. Introduction Active learning, where students are participants in the learning process, has been shown tobe beneficial in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) context (Freeman et al., 2014), and also specifically in statistics (Kalaian & Kasim, 2014) . This occurs through focusing the responsibility of learning on the learners, and engaging students in deep learning along with thinking about what they are doing and learning. One model to increase active learning when teaching staffare present is a “flipped classroom” model (see e.g., Brame, 2013) . A typical classroom dynamic at our university involves content delivery during lectures, active learning during small-group classes (typically tutorials or computer labs) through working on questions with peers and supported by a tutor, and additional practice done individually. The “flipped classroom” model used in the course for this study reverses this dynamic, through delivering the content as short videos and quizzes completed individually, prior to attending classes, followed by active learning in an interactive lecture, tutorial and a computer lab. This allows students to work through content at their own pace, and students benefit from peer and staff interaction while completing higher level tasks. The interactive lectures are largely inspired by Eric Mazur’s (see e.g., Crouch & Mazur, 2001) “peer instruction”, using structured multiple-choice questions, combined with peer discussion, in a lecture environment. Evaluation of the flipped classroom Several studies have evaluated flipped learning in tertiary mathematics and statistics courses. Commonly these have been quasi-experimental designs comparing the flipped classroom in one semester with a traditionally taught version in another (see e.g., Cilli-Turner, 2015), or parallel classes in the same semester each taught using either a traditional or flipped classroom design (Gundlach et al., 2015; Guererro et al., 2015) . The results from these studies are mixed as to the effectiveness of a flipped classroom for educational outcomes, as measured by final grade. They are also limited by confounding factors such as time (different semesters), student agency in selecting which teaching model they enrol in, and differences in teaching staff. Even careful study design cannot eliminate some key issues identified in previous studies, such as differing staff expertise in teaching the two models (see e.g., Simmons et al., 2020) . Unlike previous research, for this study there was no natural comparison to a previous or concurrent iteration of the course taught traditionally, since the course was designed for and has only been taught using the flipped classroom model. Staff have also been able to refine the course and their teaching over time, with these data being collected the fifth time the course was taught. With an established course designed specifically for this teaching model, and staff who have had opportunity to develop their skills in delivering thes

FAQs

What instructional model was evaluated in this study?

The study evaluates a flipped classroom model for a large statistics course, where content is delivered via short videos and quizzes before class, followed by interactive lecture, tutorial, and computer lab activities.

How was student engagement measured?

Student engagement was assessed using student surveys together with metadata capturing how students engaged with electronic resources.

What does “success” mean in the evaluation?

Success and effectiveness were defined primarily in terms of overall grades. Confidence and perceptions were also investigated but were not used for the presented preliminary analysis due to limitations in the available data and methods.

Oct 15, 2026

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