Flipped Classroom versus Traditional Lecture as a Teaching Learning Method for Undergraduate Medical Students: An Educational Interventional Study from Southern India

Introduction: The current competency-based undergraduate medical curriculum necessitates the cultivation of skills in selfdirected learning, critical thinking and deep learning among learners. The flipped classroom is a teaching-learning method that can foster these skills. Aim: To compare the effectiveness of the flipped classroom versus traditional lectures as teaching-learning methods in final-year undergraduate students. Materials and Methods: An educational interventional crossover study was conducted in the Department of Paediatrics at Vinayaka Mission’s Kirupananda Variyar Medical College and Hospital, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India, from August 2023 to December 2023, involving 100 final-year MBBS students. They were randomly divided into two groups of 50 each. One group was taught using a flipped classroom approach, while the other received a traditional lecture for the first topic. The teachinglearning methods were interchanged for the second topic. Pretest and post-test scores were recorded and feedback was obtained from the students after the flipped classroom session. The Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used for independent and paired samples, respectively. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: There was no statistical significance in the post-test scores between the two teaching-learning methods for both topics 1 and 2 (p-value=0.194, p-value=0.493, respectively). Additionally, there was no statistical significance in the pretest to post-test score differences between the two teaching-learning methods for both topics (p-value=0.884, p-value=0.806). However, 97% of the students agreed that the flipped classroom was interactive and interesting and about 94% felt that their self-learning skills improved with the flipped classroom activity. Conclusion: The flipped classroom is not superior to traditional lectures as a teaching-learning method for undergraduate students. Nevertheless, most of the students preferred the flipped classroom due to its interesting and interactive nature