Flipped Learning in Compulsory First-year Mathematics Courses: Supporting Students’ Perceived Competence and Emotions

Active learning is encouraged in higher education due to its potential to improve learning outcomes over traditional lecture-based methods. One popular method that embodies active learning principles is flipped learning. Flipped learning has been associated with enhancements in learning and positive emotions, but some features inherent in flipped learning, such as increased choice and responsibility, have also hampered learning and triggered negative student emotions. The aim of this qualitative study is to identify ways in which students could be supported in their active and responsible role in flipped learning. Therefore, this study compares students’ experiences of that role with respect to their perceived competence development and emotions in flipped and lecture-based implementations of engineering mathematics courses. This study is part of a larger research project on flipped learning implemented in engineering mathematics courses. 16 students were interviewed after they had studied three engineering mathematics courses either in a flipped or lecture-based format. A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted. The findings revealed that the flipped group students, in particular, saw opportunities for choice in studying the content material as beneficial for their competence development. However, they also associated excessive responsibility for learning with negative emotions and problems in learning the content. These findings call for attention to the negative activating emotions in students’ individual learning spaces in flipped learning. Additionally, the findings highlight the need to provide students with experiences of success and competence. The findings suggest that these experiences can be advanced by paying attention to structure and instructional support. This study contributes to the current literature on flipped learning by offering insights into how to support students’ learning in these designs that are built on a student’s active and responsible role.