Mathematics Teacher’s Perceptions on Flipped Classroom towards the 21st Century learning and Innovation Skills

Mathematics Teacher’s Perceptions on Flipped Classroom towards the 21^st Century Learning and Innovation Skills

I.S.K.Eriyagama (Ph.D. student), Lubna Ali Mohammed

Lincoln University. Malaysia.

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.802019

Received: 07 January 2024; Revised 24 January 2024; Accepted: 29 January 2024; Published: 01 March 2024

ABSTRACT

 A Vast innovation has immersed in the field of education, including the learning-teaching process in the 21st- century.  Therefore teachers should be aware of new technological teaching methods while addressing 21st-century competencies since they are the pioneers in guiding students towards the future of our nation. Among them, the flipped classroom approach (FC) is a popular pedagogical practice providing opportunities for students to encounter self-learning experiences in the technological era. The main purpose of this study was to find out the perceptions of the mathematic teacher about  FC towards 21st-century skills.  In order to collect data,the survey research design was used and the questionnaire was administrated to 244  mathematics teachers, from the Galle education division . Data were analyzed quantitativelyby using  SPSS (Version 25) software. It was revealed that 75.8%  of the sample were in the view that the FC approach can monitor students’ creativity when learning mathematics. In addition, 82.1% of teachers stated that FC can promote students’ communicative  skills and 75% stated that students acquire critical thinking skills by sharing knowledge with their peers through Smart Computing. Also, 81.7% of the teachers agreed that FC  enhanced face-to-face discussions for actual collaborative applications for students. The findings also revealed that no statistically significant differences at (α≤ 0.05) on the total degree of perceptions of FC towards the 21^st-century skills due to gender since (0.125) is more than (0.05). On the other hand, many teachers (61.2%) disagreed that students become independent from the teacher in the flipped classroom, as students acquire a (a lot of  data ) large amount of information through technology and engage in critical thinking before entering the classroom. The study results demonstrated that the sample was well aware of the importance of the FC approach. However, weak internet connection, ignorance of social platforms, insufficient technological resources, negative attitudes of teachers and lack of teacher training were identified as barriers to implement the flipped classroom approach in Sri Lankan schools. Therefore, practice-oriented strategies should be used to improve mathematics teacher implementation of the flipped classroom approach in Sri Lanka.

INTRODUCTION

When addressing the competencies of the 21^st century, every teacher should be aware of the new technological teaching methods  as they are the pioneers in guiding the student towards the future of our nation  (Tapscott, 2009; Sedere , 2016; UNESCO, 2016; Seidman et al. , 2018). According to Hammond  (2001) knowledge in an innovative world is changing vastly; the teacher must also play an important role in transmitting and modernizing knowledge of students. As stated by NCTE (1998) in Quality Concerns in Secondary Teacher Education,

“The teacher is the most important element in the educational field. It is the teacher who is mainly responsible for implementing the educational process at any stage and any time that suits”.

This statement shows that it is imperative to update the teacher’s current knowledge and awareness on new trends in education as it is essential to secure the future of a nation. The importance of competent teachers to the Sri Lankan school system cannot be overemphasized. It means that teachers in contemporary society need to be professionals  with fully equipped with high academic standards and practical pedagogical skills.

Therefore, towards the globalized modern world, the role of the present teacher should be changed to enhance 21^st century learning and   innovative skills in students ( Partnership for 21^st   Century Learning network, 2018). P21  frame work further emphasizes that some of the specific skills required to develop the learning and Innovation skills, are needed to equip students for the increasingly complex life and work contexts of today’s world. They have recognized the main skills that students must have mainly the creativity, Innovative skills, Critical Thinking skills, Communicative and Collaboration skills in order to face the challenges in the 21st century.  .

According to Irugalbandara, et al. (2020), new technological pedagogical practices offer different ways to interpret the practice of learning and innovative skills and practice in the 21^st  century. Therefore, teachers should focus on the paradigm of new teaching-learning methods to develop learning skills  .

Among them, the flipped classroom approach is a popular educational practice in teaching core subject  such as mathematics, to help learners develop 21st century skills (Muir and Geiger, 2016).

The ‍flipped classroom approach has been encountered self-learning experiences in outside the classroom with technology and further discussions take place in the classroom with the teacher (Bergmann and  Sams, 2012). Mustafa and  Argün ( 2017) stated that flipped approach  is trying to engage students in the  autonomous learning  for  the learning and innovative skills in  21^st  century. Further Bergmann and  Sams ( 2012); Baker( 2013); Cockrum ( 2014) state that learners acquire content knowledge using technology outside the classroom and develop their information, communication and thinking skills and on the other  hand, students develop interpersonal and collaborative skills with their peers through tasks in the classroom. Additionally, it has been discovered that learners are more engaged in lessons and become more creative learners after participating in and experiencing flipped instruction (Doman & Webb, 2015; Sakulprasertsri & Vibulphol, 2016 ;  Amstelveen,  2019  ; Ling Cheng &  Nian Chen,2020) have also emphasized the significance of the development of these skills in mathematics learning.

In light of the considerations as mentioned above, it is time to examine  what  the perceptions of  Sri Lankan mathematics teachers of  flipped classroom approach  towards learning and innovation skills in students for 21^st century . 

Objectives of the research

This study was undertaken to:

1. To find out the perceptions of mathematics  teachers in  the Flipped classroom approach regarding the  21^st century Learning and Innovative skills
2. To identify the opportunities available for the mathematics teachers to enhance experience in Flipped classroom teaching approaches.

METHODOLOGY

This study is a descriptive study based on the two-phase mixed method. In the first phase (quantitative phase)  Likert scale questionnaire were used to find out the mathematic teachers’ perceptions of the flipped classroom approach towards the digital literacy skills in students. In the second phase, a face-to-face interview was conducted with randomly selected 10 mathematics teachers from the sample. The use of these tools enabled the researcher to validate the study results and  get more reliable findings. A focus group interview was conducted with randomly selected 10 mathematics teachers to triangulate the data obtained from the questionnaire.

Attitude scale survey questionnaire were administrated to 244  mathematics  teachers from secondary schools in Galle zonal educational division .

Table 1:Sample of the teachers

The quantitative data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS :version 25 ). Means, frequencies, standard deviations, t-tests for independent samples, and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to find out descriptive statistical analysis.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The result showed that the majority of the teachers of the  sample was in the view that the FC approach can  monitor student  creativity  when learning the mathematics. Also, most (78.3%) teachers agreed that the flipped classroom approach enables students to build knowledge outside the classroom and most (82.1%) agreed that students can communicate their ideas with each other using multiple media and technologies. Findings also revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in teacher perceptions due to gender in imparting communication skills through FC. But regarding t-test for sample,  teachers’ perceptions  due to type of school shown in Table 1 indicated there is significant differences at (α≤ 0.05) on the total degree of perceptions between teachers’ perceptions of flipped classroom due to type of school  since (0.0025) is less  than (0.05).

Table1 :  T-test for Independent Samples of Teachers’ Perceptions of in imparting

communication   skills through flipped classroom due type of

school

The results of the interview revealed that the teachers working in 1AB school had more positive perceptions about the flipped classroom approach than other schools because of the availability of technological resources in the school.

Apart from that, most of the teachers agreed that the  flipped classroom is suitable for students to acquire critical thinking before entering the class, which enables them to share knowledge with their peers. But many teachers (61.2%) disagreed that students become independent from the teacher in the flipped classroom, as students acquire a (a lot of data )large amount of information through technology and engage in critical thinking before entering the classroom. In exploring the reasons for this perception, the interview revealed that teachers in Sri Lanka still prioritize teaching over learning in the classroom. Furthermore, they stated that teachers need to control the prior knowledge acquired by students before entering the classroom through the Internet and computer applications. The findings show that most of the sample indicated flipped classroom can enhance collaboration with teachers and students during the class sessions  as  well as  75.5% of teachers agree that acquired information can be shared collaboratively among students through digital literacy.

According to the interview results with teachers, it revealed that  in FC students can access online learning at any time at autonomously and their own peace from any popular online service and  online video sites. Most  teachers point out that students can easily follow a variety of online learning by clicking on links on social media, which is very convenient and flexible, and as a result, a lot of data can be generated in a flipped classroom.

The results of the study revealed the importance of having the knowledge of  technology, computers, social media and related resources to implement flipped classrooms. However, it was revealed that weak internet connection ,  lack of knowledge in social platforms,  limited resources,  insufficient technological tools , minimal support from  the administration of the school management  and   lack of teacher  training   make  discouraged to implement the flipped classroom in Sri Lankan schools.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The study results demonstrated that the sample was well aware of the importance of the FC approach. By changing the perceptions of the teachers, the concern about the lack of technology can be reoriented and simple learning management systems,  worksheets, or a study guide can be introduced as alternative suggestions. Therefore, appropriate strategies should be developed to improve teacher training in  the flipped classroom . Therefore, practice-oriented strategies should be used to improve mathematics teacher implementation in Sri Lanka

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

A sincere thank my supervisor prof Lubna Alli Mohhamad ,  information provider and reviewers who have provided input and suggestions to improve writing and assist in journal publishing.

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