The effects of flipped classrooms on undergraduate pharmaceutical marketing learning: A clustered randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND: Recently, flipped classrooms (FCs) have gradually been used in Chinese higher education settings. However, few studies have focused on the effects of FCs on interdisciplinary curricula. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an FC on the engagement, performance, and perceptions of students and on teacher-student interaction in a pharmaceutical marketing course. DESIGN: A clustered randomized controlled study was conducted, with 137 junior-year pharmacy undergraduates using an FC serving as the intervention group, in contrast to students using lecture-based learning (LBL) as the control group. Flanders’ interaction analysis system (FIAS) was used to measure teacher-student interaction, and questionnaires regarding attitudes toward and satisfaction with the teaching model were administered. RESULTS: The students in the FC group scored significantly higher than those in the LBL group (88.21±5.95 vs. 80.05±5.59, t = -8.08, p = 0.000) on pharmaceutical marketing. The multiple linear regression results showed that the FC model had a significant impact on student performance (β = 8.16, p<0.0001). The percentages of teacher talk in the FC and LBL groups were 21% and 96%, respectively (χ(2) = 2170.274, p = 0.000); however, the percentages of student talk in the FC and LBL groups were 75% and 2.6%, respectively (χ(2) = 2012.483, p = 0.000). Compared with the LBL group, most students in the FC group held more positive attitudes toward the teaching model; the mean scores for the 8 attitude attributes in the FC group were significantly higher than those in the LBL group (p = 0.000). There were significant differences in the ratings of satisfaction with teacher-student interaction (p = 0.000), the students’ learning attitude (p = 0.000), the teacher’s preparatory work (p = 0.000), the teaching objective (p = 0.000), and the teaching effect (p = 0.000) between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Compared with LBL methods, implementing the FC model improved student performance, increased teacher-student interaction and generated positive student attitudes toward the experience. As an effective pedagogical model, it can also stimulate pharmacy students’ learning interest and improve their self-learning abilities.