Objectives of the Research The objectives of this study are:
i)
to explore the perception of pre-service TESL teachers regarding reflection and
application towards learning higher order thinking skills during the flipped
classroom learning;
ii)
to explore the extent of reflection//application towards helping pre-service
TESL teachers to practice higher order thinking skills during construction of
digital language learning materials;
iii)
to describe the challenges encountered during designing, conducting and
reporting this study.
Research Questions The research questions for this study are:
RQ1: How do pre-service TESL teachers perceive reflection//application process during
flipped classroom learning?
RQ2: How does reflection//application help pre-service TESL teachers learn higher order
thinking skills during construction of digital learning language materials?
RQ3: What are the challenges encountered during designing, conducting and reporting
this study?
Methodology Research Design This study was carried out over a period of 15 weeks. Learners were required to adapt
and create digital language learning materials to supplement the activities found in the
Form 2 English Language national coursebook. In order for the learners to create this
product, the lecturer implemented a blended learning approach to ensure effective
teaching and learning climate. The blended learning approach incorporates the flipped
learning methodology for content knowledge and digital reflection-in-action for
synthesize knowledge. Each session began with a situation question drawing on their
experiences regarding the topic and the learner has to discuss the situation (experiential
engagement) aided by a series of questions. Next learners will have to watch a vodcast
of the lecture for that topic and read selected articles (not more than two) before the
upcoming lessons (concept exploration) and answer question (or known as checkpoints)
placed at the end of particular subtopics in the vodcast to help learners track their
understanding. During face to face lecture session, there will be clarification, discussions
and critical feedback between the lecturer and the learners (demonstration and
application). Not only that, learners have to accomplish task focusing on evaluating and
synthesizing content and shared knowledge and presenting to their coursemates. Finally,
learners shared their diverse knowledge and reflect upon the task through blogging
(meaning making). This process is further strengthened by asking the learners to apply
their reflection in the following week task (reflection and application). At the end of the
course, learners will submit a reflection on the whole learning process and answer a
questionnaire pertaining to learning using the flipped classroom approach.