Flipped classroom experience in practice class in the degree of food science and technology

Abstract

One of the most important challenges in the teaching of science is the application of innovative teaching methods that emphasize the acquisition of solid knowledge. The flipped classroom is an innovative method that allows for flexible classes transforming the student into a proactive participant with self-evaluation capacity. Moreover, the practical classes in a technological-scientific degree prepare the student to develop a professional roll, acquiring experience in the management of practical skills. This type of practical learning is extremely important and in many of the subjects of the degree they represent 50% of the total teaching hours. Therefore, it is interesting to develop innovative strategies that increase learning in this type of class. Flipped Classroom would allow the acquisition of skills by active participation and involvement of the students themselves. The main objective of this work was to investigate the effects of flipped classroom experience upon the students' learning skills. In order to achieve this objective, it is proposed to carry out the same activity through a traditional teaching process, in which the student's active participation is lower. The experience was carried out with three class groups of the subject of Biotechnology and the activity consisted in the development of a practice script, related to this subject. From the perspectives of learning performance, students reported a more positive learning experience and higher engagement in the flipped classroom. They emphasized in the benefits of looking for information and elaborating the script of practices, in front of a class of traditional practices with a script elaborated exclusively by the teacher. However, students indicated the difficulty of the activity, related to aspects such as working in a group or looking for relevant information. In view of the results, student perspectives on learning experience with the flipped classroom model are valuable for further planning and implementation of new teaching-learning methods.