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Flipped classroom teaching has been used by many educators to promote active learning in higher education. This andragogy is thought to increase student engagement by making them more accountable for their learning and increase time on task in the classroom. While there are several systematic reviews that point to improved student results, it remains unclear if flipped classrooms have positive learning effects in physiology education. Flipped classroom teaching was introduced in two advanced physiology subjects (advanced neuroscience, "semester 1," and cardiorespiratory and renal physiology, "semester 2"). Changing the mode of content delivery reduced the time students needed to spend listening to lectures by one-third, without sacrificing either learning content or academic standards. Higher pass rates were observed with larger number of students earning distinction and high-distinction grades. Statistically significant improvements in final grades were observed from both subjects ("semester 1": 2017, 49.28 ± 20.16; 2018, 53.29 ± 19.77, t[subscript 268] = 2.058, P = 0.0405; "semester 2": 2017, 58.87 ± 21.19; 2018, 67.91 ± 20.40, t[subscript 111] = 2.306, P = 0.023). Finally, students' perception of their learning experience remained at or above the university benchmarks (median score of [greater than] 80% for all iterations of the subjects). While the most frequent and persistent area that students suggested could be improved was reduction of content, equal numbers of students commented that no improvement in the subjects was required. Despite the generally positive attitude to recorded didactic teaching content, classroom attendance remained very low, and students did not engage with the active learning content. This suggests that more emphasis needs to be placed on promoting class attendance by developing better active learning content.

Evidence shows that factors contributing to success in physiology education for allied health students at universities include not only their high school achievement and background but also factors such as confidence with their teachers and quality of their learning experience, justifying intensive and continued survey of students' perceptions of their learning experience. Here we report data covering a 3-yr period in a physiology subject that has been redesigned for blended and online presentation. Consistent with previous reports, we show that when we undertook a blended mode of delivery, students demonstrated better grades than traditional modes of teaching; however the absence of didactic teaching in this subject resulted in lower grades overall. Students have very strong positive attitudes to weekly quizzes (80% positive approval) but report ambivalent attitudes to online self-directed learning (61% negative perception), even though they had 2-h weekly facilitated workshops. Overwhelmingly, students who undertook the subject in a self-directed online learning mode requested more face-to-face-teaching (70% of comments). From these data, we suggest that there is a quantifiable benefit to didactic teaching in the blended teaching mode that is not reproduced in online self-directed learning, even when face-to-face guided inquiry-based learning is embedded in the subject.

Flipped classroom teaching has been used by many educators to promote active learning in higher education. This andragogy is thought to increase student engagement by making them more accountable for their learning and increase time on task in the classroom. While there are several systematic reviews that point to improved student results, it remains unclear if flipped classrooms have positive learning effects in physiology education. Flipped classroom teaching was introduced in two advanced physiology subjects (advanced neuroscience, semester 1, and cardiorespiratory and renal physiology, semester 2). Changing the mode of content delivery reduced the time students needed to spend listening to lectures by one-third, without sacrificing either learning content or academic standards. Higher pass rates were observed with larger number of students earning distinction and highdistinction grades. Statistically significant improvements in final grades were observed from both subjects (semester 1: 2017, 49.28 20.16; 2018, 53.29 19.77, t268 2.058, P 0.0405; semester 2: 2017, 58.87 21.19; 2018, 67.91 20.40, t111 2.306, P 0.023). Finally, students’ perception of their learning experience remained at or above the university benchmarks (median score of >80% for all iterations of the subjects). While the most frequent and persistent area that students suggested could be improved was reduction of content, equal numbers of students commented that no improvement in the subjects was required. Despite the generally positive attitude to recorded didactic teaching content, classroom attendance remained very low, and students did not engage with the active learning content. This suggest that more emphasis needs to be placed on promoting class attendance by developing better active learning content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence shows that factors contributing to success in physiology education for allied health students at universities include not only their high school achievement and background but also factors such as confidence with their teachers and quality of their learning experience, justifying intensive and continued survey of students' perceptions of their learning experience. Here we report data covering a 3-yr period in a physiology subject that has been redesigned for blended and online presentation. Consistent with previous reports, we show that when we undertook a blended mode of delivery, students demonstrated better grades than traditional modes of teaching; however the absence of didactic teaching in this subject resulted in lower grades overall. Students have very strong positive attitudes to weekly quizzes (80% positive approval) but report ambivalent attitudes to online self-directed learning (61% negative perception), even though they had 2-h weekly facilitated workshops. Overwhelmingly, students who undertook the subject in a selfdirected online learning mode requested more face-to-face-teaching (70% of comments). From these data, we suggest that there is a quantifiable benefit to didactic teaching in the blended teaching mode that is not reproduced in online self-directed learning, even when face-to-face guided inquiry-based learning is embedded in the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]