The Flipped Classroom (FC) method is becoming increasingly popular in modern education systems, but how effective is it in teaching pharmacy among medical students? Research conducted at our institute investigated this, involving 161 enthusiastic Hungarian medical students and 10 instructors. Students received preliminary course materials online, and then processed the material through active tasks in seminars and gained a deeper understanding of it. According to our study, the FC method improved short- and long-term knowledge retention in certain topics, and in fact, the improved effectiveness was still detectable after six months based on topic-specific test results. Although we showed a correlation between preparedness and test results, our results also showed that less prepared students mastered the material in the interactive class – meaning that the method is no less effective than frontal seminars, even in cases of unpreparedness. However, there was no significant difference in the overall exam results compared to traditional education, meaning that the beneficial effect of FC appears only topic-specifically. Students positively evaluated the interactive learning, but the time-consuming preparation posed a challenge for them due to their other commitments. The method also met with mixed reception among instructors, as it significantly increased the background work of instructors. Our research showed that FC can be useful in teaching pharmacology, but its implementation can be challenging.
The scientific paper on the research is available at: link
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