Flipping Quantitative Classes: A Triple Win

In the ‘flipped’ class, students use online materials to learn what is traditionally learned by attending lectures, and class time is used for interactive group learning. A required quantitative business class was taught as a flipped classroom in an attempt to improve student satisfaction in the course and reduce the ‘transactional distance’ (perceived barriers to engaging with the instructor, other students, technology, and course content) and increase satisfaction. Analysis indicated improvements to both transactional distance and student satisfaction in the flipped classroom. Multiple regression analysis quantified the extent of which each transactional distance was a predictor of student satisfaction. The improved satisfaction in the flipped classroom was predicted by the improvement in transactional distances between students, students and the instructor, and students and the instructional technology used in the class. The conclusions from this study suggest that the flipped classroom is a particularly good pedagogical strategy for quantitative classes. It allows the instructor to increase student satisfaction (a win for the students) in a course in which it is usually low without compromising academic standards (a win for the teachers). Finally, increased satisfaction leads to increased retention and hence increased revenues for the institution, which is a win for the administration.