The educator’s experience of using flipped classrooms in a higher education setting

Although there is growing evidence that the flipped classroom approach (FCA) positively impacts the student learning experience and outcomes, much less is known about the educator’s experience. This study aimed to explore how educators across several disciplines in a regional Australian University describe their experience of using the FCA. Qualitative description methodology guided the research whereby individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews collected qualitative data from educators who had used the FCA in the previous 4 years which was then analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Eleven educators across seven disciplines were recruited, eight of whom had fully and three partially flipped a course. Four broad themes described the educator’s experience of the FCA namely, the environmental influence, preparation and implementation, emotional response and metacognition. There were 20 sub-themes across the four themes. Educators in this study were both ambivalent and internally motivated by the FCA, valued scholarly and institutional support, highlighted the importance of reflexive teaching practice and appreciated the affordance of more active learning opportunities in class. The human aspect of competing emotions was clear when implementing the FCA. Educators need to prepare themselves for the emotional investment that accompanies the FCA, to be responsive and adaptive in what and how content is delivered. Institutions should provide adequate support to cater for both the well-being of educators as well as the practicalities of implementing the FCA.