Experiences with Flipped Classroom Interventions in a Practical Software Engineering Course

Experiences with Flipped Classroom Interventions in a Practical Software Engineering Course

연구 분야: Software Development

학회: International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

The student feedback collected over the years and the experience of running the practical software engineering course indicated that a handful of topics had a significant skill imbalance in the student population. To address this gap, flipped lectures were introduced for the identified topics. These combine video lectures, online resources, and tutorials that complement the other course lectures. The intervention was evaluated through video statistics, a survey, a focus group interview, and teacher observations. The survey was submitted by 31 students with one focus group to get insights into student experiences and challenges. Students felt optimistic about content delivery through flipped lectures due to learning at their own pace. The primary challenges identified are low student attendance and insufficient preparation among those present for lectures. A key factor contributing to low attendance is the availability of recorded lectures and the absence of mandatory attendance requirements. To address the issue of inadequate preparation, implementing backup presentations for select lectures is proposed as a mitigation strategy to reinforce students’ understanding of core topics. Interactive lectures have proven less effective, as many students do not review the materials or complete the exercises beforehand. This lack of preparation hinders active engagement and reduces the effectiveness of interactive teaching methods. Future work should incorporate more “code-along” sessions to address this issue, allowing students to participate actively during class. Additionally, dedicating class time to completing exercises could improve engagement and reinforce learning outcomes. Adding grade-related incentives to the interactive lectures and understanding the students’ time constraints might improve engagement.