ConfChem Conference on Flipped Classroom: Flipping at an Open-Enrollment College

The flipped classroom is a blended, constructivist learning environment that reverses where students gain and apply knowledge. Instructors from K-12 to the college level are interested in the prospect of flipping their classes, but are unsure how and with which students to implement this learning environment. There has been little discussion regarding flipping the classroom with students who are less academically prepared, specifically those students at open-enrollment colleges. Students at an open-enrollment college differed in their perceptions of the flipped classroom from those perceptions reported by instructors in advanced placement high school chemistry classes or chemistry at competitive colleges and universities. The focus of this paper is to provide readers with insights about flipping a general chemistry class at an open-enrollment college. This study compared high school class rank and mathematics placement level to overall course grades in two different iterations of the flipped classroom and lecture learning environments. The results of the ANOVA indicated that mathematics level explained 17.6% of the variance in course grade (R-2 = 0.176, F(1,84) = 17.131, p < 0.001) and class rank explained 20.965% of the variance in course grade (R-2 = 0.208, F(1,84) = 20.965, p < 0.001). Students who are less academically and mathematically prepared should have a very structured learning environment with continual instructor feedback and prescribed preclass activities. This communication summarizes one of the invited papers to the ConfChem online conference Flipped Classroom, held from May 9 to June 12, 2014 and hosted by the ACS DivCHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE).