Resumen de Impact of flipping a first-year course on students’ ability to complete difficult tasks in the engineering design process

Ann Saterbak, Tracy M. Volz, M.A. Wettergreen

• The impact of flipping an engineering course on student learning outcomes remains an open question because the literaturepresents a perplexing array of results. In this multi-year study, we evaluate the impact of flipping a first-year project-basedengineering design course. We pose two questions: (1) Does a flipped project-based engineering design course producedifferent levels of mastery of engineering design process knowledge compared to the lecture version of the course? (2) Dostudents in the lecture class and flipped class achieve the same levels of design process knowledge when given tasks thatrangein difficulty?Three strandsof data wereused to assessdesign processknowledge: first draftsof team technicalmemos,pre- and post-critiques of a Gantt chart of a proposed design process, and an exam. Teams in the flipped classroomperformed significantly better on the technical memos that evaluated solution ideas and established a testing plan, both ofwhich required high-level cognitive capacities. However, no differences were found between lecture and flipped models forthe exam or technical memo that established design criteria, which required low-level cognitive activities. The Gantt chartassessment produced mixed results. This study concludes that flipping a project-based design course can significantlyimprove student learning on more difficult tasks. We urge researchers and educators to consider the tasks and assignmentsgiven to students when drawing conclusions about the effectiveness of flipped pedagogy.