Teaching research and evidence based medicine to medical students using a flipped classroom framework

Abstract Flipped classroom is becoming increasingly common in higher education, yet a frequent criticism is that students often fail to engage with the assigned material before class. In a large methodology module for medical students, we examined when students engaged with the assigned material (pre‐recorded videos), and whether watching the videos before class was associated with better academic achievement. We also examined the potential effect of conscientiousness. On average, 83% of students watched the assigned videos before the weekly practical class. We found that students who watched the pre‐recorded videos earlier were more likely to provide correct answers to the multiple‐choice exam questions. There was no effect of the time of watching videos on coursework assessment marks, and no effect of conscientiousness. In conclusion, students on our module followed the flipped classroom format diligently, and watching the pre‐recorded videos earlier had a significant positive effect on their exam performance.