Effectiveness of Flipped Learning in Ameliorating Cognitive Engagement and Academic Achievement among Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of flipped learning in improving cognitive engagement and academic achievement among secondary school students in science. The study used a pre-test-post-test control group design. The population comprised high school students enrolled at Alagappa Model Higher Secondary School, Karaikudi, Sivagangai District, Tamil Nadu. A sample of 70 students (35 boys and 35 girls) was selected on the basis of marks obtained in a previous examination to support group homogeneity and was randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group was taught through the Flipped Classroom Learning (FCL) approach, whereas the control group received traditional classroom instruction. The intervention was implemented for five weeks. Data were collected using a science achievement test and the Questionnaire on Students’ Cognitive Engagement. The reliability coefficients for the achievement test and cognitive engagement scale were 0.85 and 0.87, respectively. Mean, standard deviation, independent samples t-test and Cohen’s d were used for analysis. The pre-test results showed no significant differences between the groups in academic achievement or cognitive engagement, indicating initial comparability. In the post-test, the experimental group obtained higher scores than the control group in science achievement and cognitive engagement. The post-test difference in academic achievement was statistically significant at the 0.01 level (t = 4.19), with a large effect size (d = 1.00). The post-test difference in cognitive engagement was also statistically significant at the 0.01 level (t = 14.7999), with a large effect size (d = 3.54). The findings indicate that flipped learning may support active participation, self-paced learning and higher-order thinking in secondary school science learning.