Preliminary experiences with "Flipping" a facility layout/material handling course

We are employing the "flipped classroom" teaching and learning approach in a required junior-level industrial engineering course on facility layout and material handling. In the "flipped classroom," students use out-of-class time to watch lectures available online. This frees class time for problem solving, active learning, or difficult topics, for which the instructor serves as an on-demand consultant or advisor. To prepare for flipping this class in the spring of 2014, the instructor conducted a pilot the previous spring by "flipping" three lecture periods. In a student evaluation of the pilot in which over 90% responded, nearly 65% preferred in-class problem solving to traditional lecture. Frequently-stated benefits were the in-class accessibility of the instructor and the ability to re-watch videos. The College and University Classroom Environment Inventory was administered both before the pilot and during the full classroom flip to measure changes in student perceptions, and significant differences in several dimensions closely related to the flipped classroom were observed. Also, using the Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol, we observed an increase in active learning components within the flipped relative to the pre-flipped course, as strived for. The experiences of the instructor in flipping this IE course will also be discussed.