Classroom flip in a senior-level engineering course and comparison to previous version

As students enter the final year of an engineering curriculum, an increased responsibility for selfdirected learning is highly desirable. Students about to embark on a career must independently be able to meet professional development demands in a rapidly changing engineering environment. Students who arrive in class with assigned reading completed, notes reviewed, and prepared for classroom activities are developing the ability to be self-directed learners. Limited classroom contact time can be much more effectively utilized by focusing on concepts and applications identified by students as needing further review and explanation. This paper describes changes implemented to a Civil Engineering "Structural Design of Foundations" course at a Penn State University's College of Engineering. These included short pre-class assignments and quizzes that were designed to increase students' preparation for the next class meeting, as such flipping class meeting preparation to outside the classroom. A benefit of these changes is that the instructor can significantly reduce the time spent lecturing and focus on application of concepts and understanding of processes. Focusing on in-class student activities fosters student-centered learning with the student having the responsibility to prepare for each class session. This paper describes the current study and shares previous results. Those instructors who are interested in using a classroom flip strategy to prepare students for class may benefit from this paper.