Exploring the flipped classroom in a Hong Kong secondary school

Abstract

This study examines the implementation of the flipped classroom model in a local secondary school in Hong Kong. The flipped classroom is a relatively new educational model requiring teachers to invert the time students spend on lectures and the time students spend on homework. Although several studies conducted on this approach show improvements to student achievement as well as positive views from participating educators, parents and most students, there has been little research done based in Asian schools. For this design study, four geography classes of secondary one students in a local Hong Kong school were “flipped” for one full school term (4 months). Throughout the term, learning resources were posted to online educational platforms for students to access at home, and the teacher developed interactive activities for class time. This paper analyzes data from various summative assessments, statistics from the online platforms, student posts, video footage from the class, responses to a student survey and a teacher interview to examine four elements of the flipped classroom: the nature of the learning environment created to flip the classroom in a local Hong Kong secondary school; whether students could achieve or potentially improve outcomes of the course through flipped learning; whether flipped learning stimulated engagement from students with a particular focus on social constructivist behaviors; and, the sustainability of flipped teaching in a local Hong Kong school.