Students' perceptions of the use of a flipped classroom teaching approach: application to environmental scanning and economic intelligence course in the Tunisian university system

Progress in the field of ICT and the facilities offered by the digital wave have favoured the renewal of some innovative methods like the flipped classroom (FC). This method which is based on instructional media devotes class time to active learning. As a learner-centred method, it requires that the teacher move from the role of a knowledge transmitter to that of a mentor and guide focused on continuous assessment of the learning process. Despite its purported benefits, FC may be perceived positively or negatively by learners who are familiar with lecture courses. This study aims to determine the factors that could positively or negatively impact the students' perceptions of this (FC) pedagogy. A quantitative exploratory study involving 80 master's degree students attending a semester-long course on economic intelligence and environmental scanning (IE and ES) showed the impact of the dimensions related to time, pacing, and video and social media that were not statistically significant. However, our study showed that the dimension of knowledge transferability and deeper learning has a positive impact on the student's perceptions of FC. This result suggests the adoption of the FC pedagogy in IE and ES courses.