Flipped Classroom in Higher Education: Evaluation of the Process in the Framework of Community of Inquiry

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of the instruction process using the flipped classroom (FC) model within the scope of Computer Networks and Communication course. Theoretically, the community of inquiry model was taken as a reference and the effectiveness of the instruction process was evaluated accordingly. Students were preservice teachers studying Computer Education and Information Technology in the third grade in the Van region in Turkey. There were a total of 19 students, of which 12 are male and seven are female. FC process was carried out in the spring semester of 2018–2019 and lasted 11 weeks in total. A mixed-method design was used to gathering the data. Therefore, the research design was an explanatory design from mixed-methods designs. The quantitative data collection tool was the Turkish version of the Community of Inquiry Survey. The quantitative data were analyzed by dividing the students into very low, low, high, and very high levels. The qualitative data collection tool was the interview form created concerning the community of inquiry model. The qualitative data were analyzed by the use of the community of inquiry coding template's themes. At the end of the instruction process, students had a very high level of cognitive, social, and teaching presence perception. This situation was detailed and supported with the qualitative data obtained. Concerning the cognitive presence, the students firstly talked about that they started the learning process with videos. Regarding the social presence, they mentioned the motivating effect of the questions. About the teaching presence, participants firstly mentioned the direct instruction role of the videos.