The Flipped Classroom: Enhancing Self-confidence among Adolescents Studying Chemistry

One of the key aims of post-primary education in Ireland is to develop all aspects of the individual, such as the creative, critical, and intellectual to prepare them for working life, for living in the community, and for leisure. Student self-confidence and student agency are critical to the students’ development at this stage. The flipped classroom is a model within the blended learning pedagogy and is one that has gained considerable attention in educational circles since school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The benefits of the flipped classroom toward developing student self-confidence are noteworthy. However, at the national and international level, the vast majority of research on the flipped classroom is third-level focused. This paper discusses a number of issues that arose from data collected from research carried out by the author and how the flipped classroom could benefit adolescents preparing for the Irish Leaving Certificate Chemistry summative examination. The results obtained in this study are significant as little research has been carried out on the implementation of the flipped classroom within an Irish secondary school setting. Video lessons are often seen as the core resource in the implementation of the flipped classroom. However, video lessons alone were insufficient for developing student self-confidence. Students required multiple resources, particularly resources focused on assessment, to bolster their self-esteem. It was found that the successful implementation of the flipped classroom was achievable, but scaffolding was required for these adolescents. Some scaffolding was also required initially for teachers as almost all teachers involved in this study were not familiar with the flipped classroom concept. Teachers required a guide in terms of the implementation of new teaching methods. The technology is currently available to create high quality resources for the flipped classroom; however, in respect to policy development, the support for online learning should be pedagogy led as opposed to technology led.