Abstract:
This study utilized a quasi-experimental research design to investigate the effectiveness of the flipped classroom pedagogical technique on students’ development of 21st century skills in community college history classes. This study focused specifically on the following skills: critical thinking, creative thinking, ethical reasoning, information literacy, problem solving, and written communication. Several studies, focused on the needs of employers, reported that in order for college graduates to succeed in the workplace, they should possess 21st century skills. The key finding of the study was that the flipped classroom was effective at creating an instructional environment conducive for the development of critical thinking, creative thinking, ethical reasoning, information literacy, problem solving, and written communication skills in a community college history classroom. Using a pretest/posttest model and the VALUE Rubrics created by the Association of American Colleges & Universities, students who were in the group exposed to the flipped classroom pedagogy made statistically significant increases for all six of the observed skills compared to students who were not exposed to the flipped instruction. However, another notable finding was that the students in the control group, those students not exposed to flipped instruction, also made increases from pretest to posttest on all six observed skills. This finding suggests additional influences contributing to student success in developing the observed skills. The study findings suggest that teaching faculty should explore the flipped classroom pedagogical method if 21st century skills or soft skills are part of their course learning objectives. By using the flipped classroom, instructors are able to use in-class time for active learning strategies which appears to create an environment conducive for student skill development. Additionally, the findings also suggest that the use of multiple formative assessments allowing students to further interact with the material beyond the knowledge level also contributes to skills development. Future research should investigate the effect that flipped instruction has on the learning environments other than community college history classes. Also, further research on pedagogical and formative assessment methods that create or contribute to an active learning classroom environment should also be explored for their effectiveness in student workforce skill development.
