Abstract:
We describe a case study of a third-year undergraduate class in Enterprise Education. A
blended learning design in the form of a flipped classroom with a duration of one
semester, was explored in two cohorts. The question was to explore how students
experienced the flipped class for learning and how this approach presented the different
presences in the Community of Inquiry (CoI), and its revisions. The online learning
components represented the individual learning space, where the main resource was
bespoke videos that replaced lectures and complemented the textbook and other
learning material. The classroom hosted a business school-style seminar where students
in small groups engaged in solving a new business case study, going through phases of
developing a concept to presenting the group solutions to the class. It aimed at fostering
active learning both inside and outside the class. Students participated in the activities to
apply the theory in new cases. The teacher facilitated the sessions, provided direction and
correction as needed. The research used mixed methods consisting of trace data,
quantitative and qualitative student feedback to explore how suitable the flipped
classroom in undergraduate education was towards developing deep learning. The
online individual learning space yielded highly salient Teaching Presences, accompanied
by evidence of Agency Presence, characterised by independent activity and personal
learning preferences. Online videos and ICT resources helped with understanding the
theory ahead of class meetings. Seminars in the collaborative space fostered deep
learning of the theory, and enabled students to apply the prepared theory in case studies
and solve problems. Integration and particularly Resolution in Cognitive Presence of CoI
featured in the seminars, while Social Presence was the weakest. Suggestions are made
to implement the flipped class principles in an online class.
