Background: Flipped classroom shifts lectures outside the classrooms through encouraging students to read papers and watch videos at home then do exercises at classrooms.
Objective: To compare medical students' performance and perception with flipped classroom [FC] model versus traditional classroom [TC] model.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 74 fourth-year medical students who were divided randomly into two groups. Each group was exposed to both teaching models with a crossover of models in different topics. All participants completed the pretests. In TC model, participants received a 50-minute lecture then solved homework problems at home. In FC model, a same lecture was pre-recorded and posted as an online video to participants who were asked to watch this video before class to be able to work in small assigned groups on homework problems in class. Then, all participants completed posttests and questionnaire about their perception of FC model.
Results: The post-tests of FC groups had significantly higher scores than TC groups. Most students agreed that FC improved their communication ability [81.1%], teamwork skills [74.4%], self-directed learning ability [64.9%], motivation and engagement to learning [71.6%] and allowed them to have access to the lectures at their own pace [70.3%]. Although 77% of them agreed that FC was more interesting than TC, FC occupied too much of their spare time [35.1%] and gave them too much burden and pressure [36.5%].
Conclusion: FC model was more effective in improving students' performance than TC model and their perception towards it was generally positive.