Here we present our findings on the differences between flipped and traditional methodologies (FTMs) on undergraduate learning in the second half of a two-semester introductory organic chemistry course at Rutgers University. There has been much interest in identifying the optimal learning conditions for undergraduate education. Several variables confound assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of learning structures, particularly FTMs. We focused on a single subpopulation: academically outstanding students with uniformly high GPA (average &gt; 3.8). Whereas the traditional method relied on in-class lectures and out-of-class problem solving, the flipped method focused on out-of-class screen-cam lectures, and in-class weekly quizzes, discussions, and problem solving. Both methods offered extensive contact hours with teaching assistants, weekly instructor access, exam review sessions, and a course-specific social media discussion forum. Bloom’s Taxonomy and a consensus difficulty scale were used to evaluate student performance on standardized and/or common questions on quiz and exam materials. The flipped method indicated improved student performance on Understand (p &lt; .001) and Analyze (p = .020) classified questions. The traditional method showed a stronger performance on Apply classified questions (p = .039). The absolute differences, however, were small.  Our data suggest that student understanding and performance increases under flipped instruction, and the distribution of scores in the flipped setting were significantly tighter (p &lt; 0.001). Additionally, based on survey response, most students felt that the class led to a deeper understanding of course material than other courses, including other Honors courses, and preferred the flipped format. We conclude that academically outstanding student populations perform well regardless of FTM and that incidents of poor performance are less likely for this group in a flipped format. We further suggest that well-controlled subpopulation analyses can be used to identify with high confidence the appropriate optimal learning format or formats, as the case may be, for the learning goals.

Analysis of flipped vs traditional formats for organic chemistry: The high performing student subpopulation

254th National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.