South African students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom: A case study of higher education

Universities have traditionally made use of the face-to-face model of lectures and tutorials as a passive mode of course instruction. When lectures are made available online and class time is used for conceptual understanding and cognitive skills among students, the approach is known as 'flipping' the classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore students' perceived experiences of flipped classrooms at a South African university. A quantitative survey method was used in this research study to elicit students' perceptions about a flipped classroom. A structured questionnaire called the Student Perception of Instruction Questionnaire was used to collect data from 130 students enrolled for a Database course over a 4 week period. The results show that the students' experienced the flipped classroom as positive and enjoyable. Even though they worked harder in the course and needed more technical assistance, most would opt for a similar course in the future.