Summary of the project
The project, led by Prof. Dr. Ir. Geert-Jan van Houtum and Dr. Ahmadreza Marandi, has focused on implementing a flipped classroom approach for the master course Advanced Maintenance and Service Logistics (1CM120), which accommodates approximately 100 students from diverse backgrounds (majority from Operations Management and Logistics, second largest group from Manufacturing Systems Engineering, 5-10% from other master programs). The course comprises lectures and guided self-study sessions. To address the issue of varying student backgrounds, flipped classroom methods have been introduced, starting with Module 2, which has the most clear structure. The project involved recording web lectures to explain basic concepts, ensuring all students enter the lectures with the same knowledge level. The guided self-study sessions have been restructured, allowing students to choose whether to complete exercises in class or at home. Those who finish at home can directly ask questions to the instructors, while others work at their own pace. Additionally, some exercises have been digitized for step-by-step video explanations. Canvas has been restructured to encourage active learning and includes a discussion forum for assignment queries. Three formative quizzes, one at the end of each module, have been developed to help students assess their understanding and prepare for exams.
Aim of the project
The project aims to enhance the learning experience by accommodating the diverse backgrounds of students in the 1CM120 course. By introducing flipped classroom techniques, the project seeks to ensure all students have a uniform understanding of basic concepts before attending lectures. This approach aims to prevent students from disengaging due to the pace of the lectures. The restructured guided self-study sessions allow for individualized learning paces and direct interaction with instructors. The digitization of exercises and the use of formative quizzes provide continuous feedback, helping students to achieve the required proficiency level before exams. This initiative aims to create a more effective and inclusive learning environment. The project’s success will be evaluated and, if positive, will inform further redesigns of the course. The outcomes and insights gained from this project will be shared during an Education Innovation Lunch and the EDIT meeting, ensuring sustainability and potential application to other courses.
Results and learnings
Even though we first decided to introduce the flipped classroom concept only for Module 2, due to COVID, we needed to apply it to all the modules.
Key outcomes include:
1. Uniform Knowledge Base: Web lectures were recorded to ensure all students had a uniform understanding of basic concepts before attending lectures. This helped in leveling the playing field, making lectures more accessible to students from varied backgrounds.
2. Flexible Learning Options: The guided self-study sessions were restructured to provide flexibility, allowing students to choose between completing exercises in class or at home, with the option of direct instructor interaction.
3. Enhanced Engagement: Digitized exercises with step-by-step video explanations and a restructured Canvas platform encouraged active learning. A discussion forum was also integrated to facilitate assignment queries and peer interaction.
4. Continuous Feedback: Three formative quizzes were developed for each module to help students assess their understanding and prepare effectively for exams. The question of these quizzes were taken from old exam questions. This continuous feedback mechanism was crucial in helping students achieve proficiency.
5. Unfortunately: Low attendance level: We observed that the provided online material was so complete that in the second year that we used the new setup, many students did not see the necessity to join the physical lectures and feedback sessions. COVID and all related problems to COVID played also a role here. We think that having all the materials available caused that some students postponed the efforts needed to master all the materials, This resulted in a significantly lower pass rate after the first exam, but the overall pass rate after the re-exam was not much lower than in the year before.
The project has shown promising results in enhancing the learning experience and ensuring inclusivity. Furthermore, even though the concept of the flipped classroom required a huge time investment, it resulted in a lower workload for the lecturers after it was implemented.
For more information, please contact:
