Flipped Classroom and Gamification Approach: Its Impact on Performance and Academic Commitment on Sustainable Learning in Education

Abstract

The onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic has negatively impacted sustainable learning in education (SLE). During city lockdowns, higher education institutes (HEIs) have transitioned from adopting solely traditional didactic classroom teaching to including innovative, flexible learning approaches such as flipped classrooms. Gamification is a new techno-pedagogy that has been integrated into flipped classrooms to promote learner achievement and engagement. Grounded in self-determination theory, the objectives of this exploratory study were to analyse the influence of the flipped classroom and gamification on SLE concerning learner achievement and engagement. Participants were recruited from postgraduate business education programmes in China, and three instructional interventions were applied for a semester of 10 weeks. The three instructional interventions applied were: gamified flipped classroom (n = 25), non-gamified flipped classroom (n = 24) and gamified traditional classroom (n = 19). A mixed-methods approach was used, and both quantitative and qualitative data were analysed. The results indicated gamified traditional classrooms promote learner achievement, and the gamified flipped classrooms promote learner engagement. Furthermore, learning culture, such as teacher-dependency, also influence learner achievement and engagement. The class observation reports and learner interviews suggested that both gamified flipped classrooms and gamified traditional classrooms support SLE in the time of academic uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic.