Pre-Laboratory Material in a Flipped Animal Reproduction Laboratory: Student Performance and Perceptions

Learning styles are continuously evolving and thus educational methodologies are following suit. One emerging pedagogy is the use of the flipped classroom. In this model, course material is primarily delivered outside of classroom time, and the classroom time is spent applying that content or expanding on it. The present study investigated the use of two type of flipped classroom material for an animal science reproduction laboratory. The pre-classroom material alternated each week between a written handout and a pre-recorded lecture. Student perception and preference surveys and pre-laboratory quiz grades were utilized for data analysis. Student grades did not differ between the types of pre-laboratory material (P = 0.928).  Student perception data showed students felt that written pre-laboratory material to a greater extent improved learning and preparation for quizzes compared to the recorded lecture material (P  ≤ 0.007). Similarly, student preference data indicated that students preferred the written pre-laboratory material compared to the recorded lecture material (P ≤ 0.001). These data suggest that written handout material in the flipped classroom model may improve student perception of learning over pre-recorded lectures, though student grades were not affected by pre-laboratory material type.