Effectiveness evaluation of flipped classroom in emergency medicine online teaching for medical undergraduates

Abstract

Introduction

Due to policy changes in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching has become the main form of class in many Chinese universities. Flipped classroom has been widely used in other disciplines, but there is a dearth of evidence available about the use in online teaching of emergency medicine. This study aimed to develop a flipped classroom for online emergency medicine teaching and evaluate its effectiveness by comparing it with traditional lecture-based online teaching.

Methods

A total of 62 clinical medical undergraduates from Jinan University participated in this study from September to December in 2022. An online flipped classroom approach was developed (FC group, n = 31). Traditional lecture-based online teaching was applied as a contrast (LBT group, n = 31). The undergraduates completed examinations and questionnaires at the end of the course. A course experience questionnaire and course examination score were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the flipped classroom approach.

Results

Regarding the five dimensions of the course experience questionnaire, the scores for good teaching (3.47 ± 0.50 vs. 2.34 ± 0.48, p < .001), appropriate assessment (3.31 ± 0.68 vs. 2.95 ± 0.71, p = .043) and generic skills (3.16 ± 0.60 vs. 2.72 ± 0.39, p < .001) were higher for the FC group than for the LBT group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in clear goals and standards, and appropriate workload. The undergraduates in the FC group showed significantly higher overall satisfaction than those in the LBT group (3.52 ± 0.1.03 vs. 2.87 ± 0.92, p = .012). The examination scores (77.936 ± 11.573 vs. 70.484 ± 7.434, p < .001), especially the scores for questions related to case analysis (33.032 ± 5.363 vs. 26.968 ± 7.657, p < .001), were significantly higher in the FC group than in the LBT group.

Conclusions

The flipped classroom for online teaching was efficient in improving undergraduates’ emergency medical academic performance and promoting the development of clinical case analysis ability. These findings provide an alternative flipped classroom approach for online teaching of emergency medicine.

Keywords:

• Flipped classroom
• emergency medicine
• online teaching
• effectiveness

Authors contributions

Fan L, Zhiquan L and Ting H served as recruiting participants, data collecting and writing original draft. Xiuxiu L and Huadong W analyzed and interpreted the data. Yiyang W and Haiyan Y were responsible for conceptualization, project administration, supervision, writing review and editing.

Ethical approval

All methods were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the investigate and survey project of Jinan University, the teaching innovation project of Jinan University (2022), Teaching quality and teaching reform project of Jinan University (2022).

Notes on contributors

Fan Lu

Fan Lu, Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangzhou, China.

Zhiquan Luo

Zhiquan Luo, Science and Education Office, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, 510630, Guangzhou, China.

Ting Huang

Ting Huang, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, 510630, Guangzhou, China.

Xiuxiu Lv

Xiuxiu Lv, Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.

Huadong Wang

Huadong Wang, Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.

Yiyang Wang

Yiyang Wang, Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.

Haiyan Yin

Haiyan Yin, Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangzhou, China.