Flipping Out! A Case Study on How to Flip the Principles of Economics Classroom

The benefits of active learning are well established. Nevertheless, many instructors are unable to implement active learning in the classroom due to pressures to cover many core topics in a principles course. This paper discusses a pedagogical tool that addresses this problem: the flipped classroom. In a flipped classroom, students are asked to study classroom material prior to class, allowing more class time to be used for active learning activities such as group discussion, problem solving, and experiments. This paper reports on our experience “flipping” a large enrollment (900+ students) microeconomic principles classroom using a methodology that was enhanced over the course of several years. Students were assigned to watch multimedia pre-lectures which included embedded questions prior to attending each lecture which then focused on active learning activities. Using empirical data collected from our semester-long case study, we provide an argument for best practices aimed at improving the effectiveness of a flipped classroom model to increase student learning outcomes. © 2015, International Atlantic Economic Society.