A Qualitative Analysis of Student Perspectives on Key Elements of Flipped Classroom Prework

The flipped classroom (FC) model reverses the traditional lecture-based approach to education by providing students with instructional content before they arrive in the classroom. Especially in recent years, FC has gained popularity in preclerkship medical education for its potential to strengthen students' clinical reasoning and teamwork skills through allowing in-person didactic sessions to build upon foundational knowledge first acquired from prework. However, the effectiveness of any FC model hinges on the design and quality of the prework materials involved. This article evaluates student perceptions on methods for designing or revising prework to enhance student learning and improve preparation for in-class application sessions.

Inductive thematic analysis of deidentified student course evaluations of a preclerkship curriculum over the 2023-2024 academic year.

Student evaluations emphasize a need for clarity in content via conciseness, visual distinction of key concepts, and minimizing background information, along with integration of diverse media, interactive questions, and alignment with learning objectives. Additionally, they highlighted the importance of administrative oversight to ensure quality and consistency.

Drawing from the student evaluations, this study offers actionable strategies for faculty to enhance student engagement, retention, and performance in the flipped classroom via improving the prework learning experience.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-025-02494-6.