Research on the Impact of Flipped Classroom Model on the Critical Thinking of Psychology Major Students: Taking the Course of Social Psychology as Example

Objective: To explore the effect of flipped teaching mode based on the course of Social Psychology on the cultivation of critical thinking ability of undergraduate students majoring in psychology. Methods: Questionnaire and interview methods were adopted to investigate 64 second-year psychology major students, and quantitative analysis was conducted using the Critical Thinking Scale and Learning Experience Scale, supplemented by semi-structured interviews for qualitative research. Results (1) In the flipped classroom, the free classroom atmosphere was the dimension with the highest student evaluation (M>4.0); (2) Learning experience and deep learning methods significantly predict critical thinking level (R2=0.427); (3) The interview analysis showed that the key situations to promote students’ critical thinking are the collision of views open tasks, and group cooperation. Conclusion: The flipped classroom effectively promoted the development of critical thinking of psychology students by creating a safe and interactive learning environment. In the future, the structured debate and refined evaluation should be further designed to deepen this effect.