Flipping a Single Lecture in a Survey Course to Active Learning: Do the Benefits Justify the Costs?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education
• Pedagogy in Medicine

Background:

• Active learning (AL) strategies, such as the flipped classroom, are increasingly adopted in health education.
• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to web-based and video technologies in medical schools.
• The effectiveness and cost-efficiency of these shifts require careful evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare active learning (AL) methods against traditional lectures for knowledge transmission and retention in pre-clinical medical students.
• To assess if the costs associated with flipping instruction are justified by learning gains.

Main Methods:

• A pilot experiment compared a 1-hour active learning (AL) session with a 1-hour traditional lecture for first-year medical students.
• Student knowledge was assessed at pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 6 months post-intervention.
• Costs for initial and repeat delivery of both formats were calculated.

Main Results:

• Both groups showed knowledge gains, with the traditional lecture group exhibiting greater gains.
• Active learning (AL) was significantly more expensive to deliver initially (3.4x) and for repeat offerings (5.4x) compared to lectures.
• The 1-hour AL session was less effective for knowledge acquisition and retention at the 6-month follow-up.

Conclusions:

• In this pilot study, active learning (AL) was less effective and more costly than traditional lectures for knowledge acquisition and retention in pre-clinical medical education.
• Future research should involve larger sample sizes, control groups, structured procedures, and assessment of attitudes and skills alongside knowledge.