Educational innovation: exploring flipped classroom in the context of experimental practices

Abstract

The Flipped Classroom methodology has emerged as an innovative educational approach, particularly at the university level. This pedagogical strategy involves students engaging with pre-assigned study material prior to class, enabling in-person sessions to focus on hands-on activities, meaningful discussions, and practical applications of acquired concepts. Utilizing the Moodle platform, an adaptable Learning Management System (LMS), enhances the cohesive integration of the Flipped Classroom methodology. Moodle serves as an online space for educators to efficiently create, manage, and distribute educational content, ensuring easy access for students anytime and anywhere. Its adaptability has been exemplified in various pedagogical innovations, encompassing diverse methodologies such as blended learning, collaborative projects, gamification, and creating personalized learning environments. This is substantiated by scholarly articles highlighting Moodle's efficacy across various educational approaches. Within Moodle, the book resource emerges as a valuable tool, facilitating the creation of diverse materials such as texts, videos, and websites. This interactive resource fosters a visual learning model beneficial for teachers and students. This study aims to implement the flipped classroom model in the practical sessions of the physics curriculum within the Computer Engineering Degree program at the University of Cordoba. The primary objective is to transition from a conventional teacher-centric classroom structure to one that fosters students' critical and autonomous learning through integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Central to this implementation is utilizing the Moodle book, a pivotal tool for creating a comprehensive practice resource. By incorporating explanatory videos, images, theoretical concepts, and evaluation tests, this method seeks to enhance student-teacher interaction, cultivate self- learning skills, and empower students as active contributors to the construction of knowledge, ultimately creating a more adaptable and enriched learning environment. The results indicate a significant increase in student-teacher interaction, cultivating skills for self-directed learning and empowering students as proactive constructors of knowledge, enhancing their critical thinking acumen. Furthermore, the research has contributed to cultivating competencies enabling students to navigate the experimental practice environment independently, fostering increased adaptability within the learning framework. Additionally, the study has provided supplementary information, enriching comprehension and proficiency in fundamental concepts.