Undergraduate nurse educators' transition to flipped classroom: A qualitative study

The flipped classroom continues to garner increasing interest in nursing education; however, few research studies fully document faculty experiences with its implementation. This study's purpose was to explore undergraduate nurse educators' transition from traditional teacher-centered, content-driven strategies to the flipped classroom and describe perceived successes and challenges during the process. A qualitative approach using interpretive description gave voice to a purposive sample of sixteen undergraduate nurse educators across the United States and Canada. Semistructured interviews, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, yielded a set of experiential themes. Participants revealed marked challenges as they rethought classroom design in relation to evidence-based educational principles, and met a surprising level of resistance from students and faculty colleagues. Still, faculty observations reflected increased student problem solving, self-determination and a greater correlation between teacher-made and standardized test scores. Participants advocated continued integration of flipped classrooms into nursing curricula and recommended greater collegial and administrative support from academic environments.