Case Studies of Technology-Assisted Flipped, Hybrid-Flipped, and Traditional Classrooms

Abstract

The University of San Diego has a continuing program since the spring semester of 2012 for the investigation of pedagogical benefits of utilizing iPads and other mobile technology in instruction and student research. The “iPad Project” is two-phased: In the first phase iPad Faculty Pilot participants explore and discover new apps, and adapt curriculum in preparation for the second phase, the iPad Classroom Project. All students in an iPad Classroom Project designated course are issued university iPads during the semester at no cost.

Several engineering courses have taken advantage of this program and incorporated iPads with flipped, hybrid-flipped, and traditional course instruction. The engineering courses that have participated or are participating in the iPad Project include electrical circuits, engineering materials science, and applied electromagnetics.

Student participation in the Engineering iPad Project began in summer session 2014 with the first cohort in the sophomore level electrical circuits class. In the summer 2014 session of the electrical circuits course, fully flipped-teaching with technology augmentation using iPads was first employed. In the fall semester of 2014, iPad augmented flipped teaching was employed in a section of electrical circuits course and in a senior level applied electromagnetics course. In the spring semester and summer session of 2015, three sections of the electrical engineering courses participated in the iPad Classroom Project employing iPad augmented hybrid-flipped teaching. In the Fall semester of 2015, an Engineering Materials Science section participated in the iPad augmented course using traditional instruction. In a short three-week intersession time-compressed semester class in January 2016 for a senior level electrical engineering course, iPads supported a hybrid-flipped/blended classroom.

iPads were used in conjunction with lecture notes, videos lectures, YouTube mashups, and supporting materials posted on the Blackboard learning management system. A course blog was also established where photographs of the answers to student questions in class, emphasis of main points in the video lessons, solution of sample problems, and worked student problem assignments were posted.

Semester surveys have been conducted by the University Academic Instructional Services (iTeam) on the effectiveness of the iPad technology augmented classrooms. Results indicated that the use of iPads is positively received. Evolution to the hybrid-flipped classroom from fully flipped instruction, and a comparison to the Fall semester of 2015 traditional class instruction using iPads are summarized.