RESEARCH ARTICLE: Students’ experiences and engagement in a flipped classroom course on pharmacokinetics

Objective The aim of this study was to examine whether the flipped classroom method enhances the quality of students' learning by exploring the change in students processes of understanding, their relation to study success and students’ experiences of the course. MethodsA mass pharmacokinetics course, comprising second-year pharmacy students was transformed by using the flipped classroom method. Students answered a questionnaire before and after the course to measure their processes of understanding. Students' experiences of the course were examined qualitatively and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. ResultsSurface-level processing statistically decreased significantly and deep-level processing increased during the course. The number of students scoring low on deep-level processing and high on surface-level processing decreased during the course. Deep-level processing was positively and surface-level processing negatively related to study success in the course. Results showed that pre-lecture tasks supported students’ learning. ConclusionsOur study showed that the flipped classroom approach resulted in decreased surface-level and increased deep-level processing. This suggests that the Flipped classroom method can improve students processes of understanding towards better understanding.