Journal of Engineering Education Transformations

Abstract

The typical pattern of classroom interaction is the Initiation - Response - Evaluation (IRE) pattern which has been accountable for 70% of teacher - student classroom interactions. In this IRE approach, a teacher initiation (I) is followed by a student reply (R) and then an evaluation of this reply (E) by the teacher. IRE approach has been considered unrewarding and leads to boring classroom discussions. Also, there is an increasing need to provide students with learning experiences that reflect the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. One key class of workforce skills relates to Rapid Collaborative Knowledge Building (RCKB). RCKB techniques include problem identification, brainstorming, prioritizing, concept mapping, and action planning. With inclusion of these techniques in the classroom, students learn the existing subject more deeply and also to become active participants in 21st century. Keeping all these aspects in mind the Student - Team - Achievement - Divisions (STAD) collaborative activity was planned and implemented. In traditional teaching approach a teacher in a classroom stands on the dais and delivers a lecture and writes on a black board. The teacher is aware that most students do not understood the lesson and the teacher is helpless as the class slot is just of one hour and there is a lot of material to cover before the test at the end of the unit. This traditional learning model will not encourage students who are accustomed to active learning, either on their own or in small groups of classmates. In order to address this issue flipped classroom was implemented. The work presented in this paper summarizes the effectiveness of collaborative activity and flipped classroom used in enhancing students' learning and performance in basic electrical engineering course.