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McBride L1, Skamagki G1
1Coventry University, Physiotherapy, Coventry, United Kingdom
Background: The Flipped Classroom (FC) approach stems from the premise of inquiry-based and egalitarian philosophy. With the growing access to vast amounts of information through the internet, the traditional model of the teachers´ role and a didactic approach to material delivery has become obsolete. The flipped classroom pedagogy uses the online learning environment to support inquiry based learning; however this can be challenging in complex or large modules. Thus, in these situations an adapted FC design is needed to allow students to make sense of what they are learning.
Purpose: The purpose of this project was a) to explore year two physiotherapy students' perceptions of the flipped classroom approach to teaching and b) to explore the impact of the role of a “narrative” in the flipped classroom approach to teaching.
Methods: An adapted flipped classroom approach was developed and implemented for part of a core module for a second-year cohort of BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy degree students at Coventry University.
The selected module for this project comprised of four strands (musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, neurology, and physiotherapy in a wider context) having an autonomous page for each of the strands on the university's online platform. The nature and the structure of the module allowed us to design and implement a narrative in the musculoskeletal strand that enabled its value to be evaluated using the other three strands for comparison. The narrative was used in the Musculoskeletal strand to actively engage a large (N = 100) cohort providing an integrated and holistic approach to the theory and practice relating to physiotherapy, develop students' skills further in assessment, clinical reasoning and intervention. A focus group was used to collect information through a semi-structured interview technique. Ten questions were asked to a group of five volunteer year two physiotherapy students who took part in the module last year. The module evaluation was also used as an objective measure of the different teaching approaches.
Results: Four key inter related themes around the role of narrative in the flipped classroom were identified: empowerment for ownership of learning, inclusivity of diverse activities, a structure for learning, and sustainable learning. The findings revealed a positive impact of the use of narrative in the flipped classroom approach in a physiotherapy cohort, and shed light on students' and teachers' preferences in teaching and learning. Students were intellectually stimulated, they believed the course was well structured and the format of the narrative provided them with clarity.
Conclusion(s): The study concluded that FC should address the development of narrative to allow students to make sense of what they are learning. Course and curriculum design and activities, learning styles, available time, and speciality preference can affect student's engagement.
Implications: It is important for educators to facilitate students to be organised and strategic about their learning. The variety of different activities as part of the FC approach can provide an all-inclusive environment.
Keywords: Physiotherapy education, Flipped classroom, Narrative
Funding acknowledgements: No funding was received for this project
Purpose: The purpose of this project was a) to explore year two physiotherapy students' perceptions of the flipped classroom approach to teaching and b) to explore the impact of the role of a “narrative” in the flipped classroom approach to teaching.
Methods: An adapted flipped classroom approach was developed and implemented for part of a core module for a second-year cohort of BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy degree students at Coventry University.
The selected module for this project comprised of four strands (musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, neurology, and physiotherapy in a wider context) having an autonomous page for each of the strands on the university's online platform. The nature and the structure of the module allowed us to design and implement a narrative in the musculoskeletal strand that enabled its value to be evaluated using the other three strands for comparison. The narrative was used in the Musculoskeletal strand to actively engage a large (N = 100) cohort providing an integrated and holistic approach to the theory and practice relating to physiotherapy, develop students' skills further in assessment, clinical reasoning and intervention. A focus group was used to collect information through a semi-structured interview technique. Ten questions were asked to a group of five volunteer year two physiotherapy students who took part in the module last year. The module evaluation was also used as an objective measure of the different teaching approaches.
Results: Four key inter related themes around the role of narrative in the flipped classroom were identified: empowerment for ownership of learning, inclusivity of diverse activities, a structure for learning, and sustainable learning. The findings revealed a positive impact of the use of narrative in the flipped classroom approach in a physiotherapy cohort, and shed light on students' and teachers' preferences in teaching and learning. Students were intellectually stimulated, they believed the course was well structured and the format of the narrative provided them with clarity.
Conclusion(s): The study concluded that FC should address the development of narrative to allow students to make sense of what they are learning. Course and curriculum design and activities, learning styles, available time, and speciality preference can affect student's engagement.
Implications: It is important for educators to facilitate students to be organised and strategic about their learning. The variety of different activities as part of the FC approach can provide an all-inclusive environment.
Keywords: Physiotherapy education, Flipped classroom, Narrative
Funding acknowledgements: No funding was received for this project
Topic: Education: methods of teaching & learning
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Coventry University
Ethics committee: Coventry University Ethics Committee
Ethics number: P68926
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
