Transforming Medical Education: The Impact of Flipped Classrooms on the Reading Comprehension of Iranian ESP Students
Abstract
Traditional teacher-centred methods in medical education often lead to passive learning, hindering students' engagement with complex clinical scenarios. This study examines the flipped classroom model's effect on reading comprehension among Iranian medical students, comparing it to traditional lecture-based methods and assessing its impact across different proficiency levels. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed, involving 100 first-year medical students divided into flipped classroom and traditional lecture groups. Quantitative data were collected using the TOEFL ITP Reading Comprehension test, administered before and after the intervention, and analyzed through independent samples t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests. Qualitative data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with 15 participants and analyzed using grounded theory. Results indicated that the flipped classroom group achieved significantly higher post-intervention scores compared to the traditional group, with intermediate-proficiency learners benefiting most. However, low-proficiency students showed no significant improvement, suggesting that the intervention's benefits are influenced by baseline skill levels. Qualitative themes highlighted enhanced engagement, collaborative learning, and challenges with self-regulation and cognitive load, particularly among low-proficiency students. These findings underscore the flipped classroom's potential to improve reading comprehension in medical education, especially for intermediate learners, while emphasizing the need for tailored support to address self-regulation and cognitive load challenges for low-proficiency students. The study advocates for adopting flipped instruction in medical education, complemented by strategies such as tiered resources and metacognitive training, to optimize learning outcomes and better prepare future healthcare professionals.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v12i1.6648
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