Background
Both flipped classroom (FC) and case-based learning (CBL) are recognized as new effective teaching approaches by emphasizing on different aspects of teaching activities; however, the implementation of FC combined with CBL has not been well explored in nephrology education. The present study aims to investigate the efficacy of FC combined with CBL in teaching nephrology via comparing with the traditional lecture-based teaching (LBT).
Methods
Sixty-two medical clerkship students at Zhejiang University School of Medicine were equally allocated into either LBT or FC group demographically matched. The glomerular diseases module was chosen for the teaching content. Students from the FC group were required to study the pre-class materials in annotated PPT format before the face-to face discussion on the relevant cases during the class. Students from the LBT group attended a didactic lecture during the class. Quiz and questionnaires were performed to assess the efficacy of FC.
Results
Participants from the FC group performed better than those from the LBT group in the quiz with higher scores in the case analysis-related questions. FC was also considered more helpful than LBT in improving high order cognitive abilities in the survey. Meanwhile, more participants agreed increased in-class pressure in FC than in LBT.
Conclusions
This study shows the positive impact of FC combined with CBL approach on nephrology education and provides an alternative pre-class and in-class format for the FC implementation.