THE USE OF THE "FLIPPED CLASSROOM" MODEL IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The evolution of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has led to changes in education. The use of ICT enabled the creation and implementation of new pedagogical practices, besides providing the creation of several modalities of learning at distance, including blended learning, which allows the articulation of face-to-face activities with distance activities. Thus, different means of learning were developed as opposed to traditional methods. Also, there are different ways of combining face-to-face with learning at distance, being the flipped classroom one of them. According to this approach, the teacher, physically in the classroom, does not transmit the content and the instructions about a particular subject matter. The student, previously, study the contents before they being explored in the classroom. This space is mainly used for students to actively learn, by solving problems, doing activities and projects, participate in discussions, laboratories etc., with the support of the teacher and in collaboration with the colleagues. This paper intends to describe the implementation of this pedagogical approach, the flipped classroom, applied in higher education courses. The students explored the contents before it were presented in the classroom, by the teacher, using an online platform. Thus, in the face-to-face classes the teacher discussed with the students the contents previously analysed by the students. Methodologically, a mixed investigation approach and a case study design was chosen, since it allows to do a detailed study of a particular problem. Several data collection technics were used, such as survey, observation and document analysis, supported by various instruments. The results of this study allowed concluding that contents previous exploration, through an online platform, contributes to the development of students' autonomy and ability, by applying the knowledge produced in the resolution of tasks of diverse nature, promoting a more active learning