The Effectiveness of the Flipped Classroom in a Teacher Training Context

The flipped classroom is a model of teaching in which activities traditionally conducted in the classroom become homework activities, and activities that normally constitute homework become classroom activities. This pedagogical model has been proposed in several studies as an alternative educational approach to conventional methods, but its effectiveness in improving outcomes is disputed. To test the effectiveness of this model, we followed a semi-experimental approach, using a pre- and post-test. A group of future life and earth science teachers from an experimental classroom (n = 62) was trained using the flipped classroom approach. However, the trainees in the control class (n = 62) followed traditional teaching. Pre- and post-test results were analyzed using the t-test to assess the effectiveness of this teaching model. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the pre-test, indicating that the two groups were equivalent prior to our intervention. However, a statistically significant difference was recorded in the post-test in favor of the experimental group members, particularly for questions related to knowledge manipulation. For the questions assessing the degree of knowledge acquisition, we found no significant difference between the two groups. We could therefore conclude that the integration of the flipped classroom in a training situation for future teachers has a positive effect on the improvement of learning performance. This approach can also serve as a means of varying our teaching practices and benefiting from the advantages of distance learning.