Use of a flipped classroom "Leadership in Nursing" course on nursing students' achievement and experiences: A quasi-experimental study

Background: Providing the undergraduate "Leadership in Nursing" course using an innovative approach is regarded to be very important in terms of enhancing leadership skills. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of using the "flipped classroom" strategy on nursing students' learning achievements and to describe their experiences of this technique. Method: The course of "Leadership in Nursing" was delivered in flipped classroom format for 20 students while another 19 were exposed to traditional teaching methods. Therefore, the study was completed with 39 students. Data was collected using "Student Introductory Information Form", "Exams (a midterm exam, a final exam and 4 assignments)", "In-Class Observation Form" and "Student Feedback Form". Findings: Students in the flipped classroom group had obtained significantly higher scores than the students in the traditional teaching group regarding the assignments, the final exam, and overall grade. Concerning the flipped classroom, students reported flexibility as the most positive aspect and problems related to the system infrastructure as the most negative aspect. Conclusion: The usage of a flipped classroom for nursing students in the leadership course provided valuable results in terms of the students' exam scores and achieving course objectives. The flipped classroom strategy for the "Leadership in Nursing" course was shown to be effective in improving abilities such as distinguishing leadership skills, visioning, developing a new perspective, willingness to share experiences regarding leadership, also enabling students to work in harmony in group activities and to participate in classroom discussions, which are all essential elements of leadership.