STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM APPROACH IN TERTIARY EFL EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY FROM BANJA LUKA

Abstract

This paper reveals the results of a small-scale pilot study of the effects of a flipped classroom (FC) model, applied in higher education, with Year IV students of English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Banja Luka. Students’ perceptions of their engagement, motivation and satisfaction with a flipped approach to learning in one of their major subjects, English Language Teaching Methods 2, were explored. Four, out of twelve, lectures were flipped as an experiment, in the winter semester of the 2015/2016 academic year, and the students were later surveyed to hear their perceptions of flipped versus traditional lectures, after the term had finished and they had passed the final exam of the subject in question. Students’ comments from the post-semester survey, consisting of a 5-point Likert scale and interview questions, were examined critically and compared with personal, after-class teacher notes. The results show that these students were open and very positive towards the new approach to the organization of lectures. Although the students expressed some skepticism towards a total replacement of the lecture format with the FC model, they acknowledged a higher level of satisfaction, engagement, collaboration, motivation and autonomy than they experienced in traditional lectures. Therefore, they recommend its implementation in a tertiary education context. Our conclusions suggest the future elaboration of the FC approach, its more frequent application in higher education and identifies avenues for further research.