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Langara | Applied Research Center
Tomoko Okochi
Applied Research
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Monday, August 19, 2024 1:59:32 PM

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ARC Final Report
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Researcher First Name: Tomoko
Researcher Last Name: Okochi
Department: Web and Mobile Design and Development
Other Department:
Project Title: Examining the impact of flipped classroom
delivery On new international students’ performance in a
practical coding course; challenges, benefits and external
influences
Start semester: 9/1/2022
End Semester: 8/31/2024
Introduction - Please introduce yourself and include

pertinent background information as it relates to your
project's research area. Tomoko Okochi, faculty at Web
and Mobile App Design and Development (WMDD) PDD
program. Tomoko has taught the introductory practical
programming course, WMDD 4815 HTML/CSS I, several
times. Carmen Larsen, TCDC Curriculum Consultant
Carmen has knowledge of flipped and traditional
classroom design as well as educational research
methods. She facilitated a flipped classroom workshop
for the WMDD faculty prior to this study; therefore,
Tomoko reached out to her when she decided to do this
study.
Please discuss your educational background and your
work experience as it relates to this project. If possible,
include a quote that helps define your interest in the
project. Tomoko Okochi has experience teaching in post
secondary settings over 10 years. While Tomoko was
teaching the first-term course, she observed some
students having difficulty achieving outcomes in flipped
classroom delivery and wanted to find out what are the
factors that influence this tendency and also what can be
done to improve their learning outcomes. Carmen Larsen
has a master’s degree in education and has designed
and taught online, blended and face-to-face courses for
over 20 years. She has been working as a curriculum
consultant at Langara for nearly 8 years, teaching and
supporting faculty with curriculum design and pedagogy.
She was interested in supporting this project because
most of her career she has worked with international
students and was keen to learn more about how different
teaching methodologies may be advantaging and/or
disadvantaging certain demographics of students.
Please summarize your project in plain language that
others not in your field could understand. The project
compared the effectiveness of two delivery modes:
traditional live lecture and flipped classroom. In the Web
and Mobile App Design and Development (WMDD) PDD
Program at Langara College, 40% of instructors who
teach practical coding and design courses provide
learning materials for students to review before class,
while 50% of instructors provide videos and other online
materials AFTER a live class, and 30% teach their
courses mainly by live lecture. (Some instructors take
different approaches for each course, thus the sum is
over 100%) Although a lot of the existing research on
flipped design indicates that this delivery mode can better
support learning, very few studies take into consideration
extra-curricular challenges that many new international
students face when they first arrive in a new country.
These challenges include a lack of experience with
flipped classroom design and the independent learning it
requires, as well as lack of information about what they
need to be successful in their program such as where to
purchase school supplies (e.g., a monitor) and where to
go for support at the college. The researchers
hypothesized that due to this lack of readiness and the
pressures faced by recently arrived international students
(e.g., finding housing, working, settling in a new country)
flipped learning may not be as effective for new
international students as reported by other studies.
Identify the project goals and objectives. Explain how the
results may be used to solve a problem or inform further
research in the field. The goal of this project was to find
which factors influence the effectiveness and outcomes
of the flipped classroom to inform decisions about which
delivery mode is best for the student population of
WMDD. The trend we found in this research can be
studied further to find the most effective approach in
teaching practical programming courses to new
international students with diverse backgrounds.
Briefly explain the steps taken (methods used) to conduct

the research, and describe the key findings. The purpose
of this study was to research the experiences of
international students to better support their learning in
the future. Unfortunately, at this time, provincial and
federal changes to student visa applications has greatly
reduced the number of international student registrations
in WMDD. Therefore, further research is not possible at
this time.
Who was involved in this project (eg. faculty, students,
community partners)? How did their involvement
contribute to the project’s success? Were there any
challenges to overcome? Tomoko Okochi (Faculty
Member in Web and Mobile App Design and
Development PDD program) Carmen Larsen (TCDC
Curriculum Consultant) Dee Batt (Student Research
Assistant) Kyaw Shane (Student volunteer)
Please share any personal stories that made this
research experience memorable/valuable.
We could work with amazing people through this project
and we felt a stronger connection to the college
community. We also took part in the AR day that enabled
us to meet many people in the community. The student
researcher could also shine pitching the project.
What are the next steps for this project and for you as a
researcher?
Research Design Asked new students in WMDD 4815
HTML/CSS I course in Fall 2022 and Summer 2023 to
participate in the survey Participants were asked to fill out
three online surveys: before the course started, after the
mid-term exam, and after the course completion
Participants were asked to take HTML/CSS skills test
twice: before the course started and after the completion
of the course Interview of the instructor and the
instructional assistant were done to obtain qualitative
data Who were our participants New students in WMDD
taking term 1 HTML/CSS I course Flipped classroom -6
students from Fall 2022 completed all three surveys and
skills test -6 students from Summer 2023 completed all
three surveys and skills test -70% of students had no
experience with flipped classroom Traditional live lecture
delivery -8 students from Summer 2023 completed all
three surveys and skills test Out of the 20 students who
participated in this study, 19 were newly arrived
international students. Findings Due to the small number
of participants, the quantitative data did not yield
statistically significant findings. Yet, the data is
suggestive of a trend that can be studied in more depth in
future studies. Student Readiness -The success of
flipped classrooms might be attributed to students’
readiness for online learning and having necessary
devices (i.e., external monitor) available. In the flipped
group, 67% of students had no previous experience with
blended learning, and several didn’t have access to
monitors that would allow them to code along while
watching videos at home. Comparison of Two Delivery
Modes -There was no difference in learning gains
between students in the flipped course versus the
traditional course; however, due to the random selection
of participants more students in the flipped cohort had
previous experience with HTML/CSS. Fifty eight percent
of students in the flipped group had taken coding courses
in the past, whereas only 26% of students in the
traditional group had taken coding courses. This lack of
difference may also stem from the low participant
numbers, so further research is needed. -Students taking
the flipped course studied more than the students in the
traditional course. It is likely that the opportunity to watch
videos more than once and pause them when needed
contributed to longer study time in the flipped cohort.
Findings Specific to Flipped Cohort -Even though the
majority of students in the flipped courses stated that
they found the follow-along videos helpful, the

percentage of videos watched declined over time.
Midterm Survey Videos watched -75% - watched all
videos -17% - watched 80-95% of the videos -8% watched 60-80% of the videos Final survey Videos
watched -42% - watched all videos -25% - watched 8095% of the videos -8% - watched 60-80% of the videos
Although the expectation to study the materials before
coming to class was made clear to students in the flipped
group, less than 20% reported watching all of the videos.
Data from Final Survey Percentage of videos watched
BEFORE class -17% - 100% of the videos -33% - 8195% of the videos -33% - 61-80% of the videos -17% 41-60% of the videos Students gave several reasons for
not watching all videos; however, the predominant
reason was need to complete homework from other
WMDD courses. The WMDD program is an intensive
program that requires students to take 5 courses in the
first semester. Data from Final Survey Reasons for not
watching videos -83% - other homework -50% - bad time
management -33% - work -33% - family -17% - used
other resources Benefits, Challenges, External Influences
The following information was taken from written
responses from student surveys and interviews with the
course instructor and teaching assistant. Flipped
Classroom Benefits -Self-paced learning -Deeper
understanding of course materials by revisiting the
content multiple times. Reflected in fewer students
visiting office hours or sending emails to ask questions.
Challenges / barriers Flipped learning characteristics -Not
being able to ask questions and get clarifications right
away. E.g. Working on the material in the evening -The
need for additional investment by students to fully
engage in the learning experience (e.g., students had to
buy an external monitor to watch the instructor's video
while using the laptop to see their own coding screen)
Students' commitment -The success of the flipped
classroom model depends on students willingness /
ability to review lecture content before class. If students
ignore this, it can result in failure, as they may spend
class time watching videos instead of engaging with
assignments. -Some students prioritize work over
studies, while others struggle with procrastination Time
constraints in the two-hour lab -If students watch the
video but can't complete the assignment in class, it poses
a challenge as they may struggle to find time to catch up
on next week's lecture Environmental variables for new
students -It takes some time to adapt to new education
style -Being new to Canada, needing time to get settled,
challenges related to culture shock -Too busy with work
and do not have enough time to study Traditional live
lecture Benefit -Undistracted focused time -Peer pressure
to keep up with the learning -Students can ask questions
immediately Challenges / barriers -Time constraints in
the two-hour class (e.g., students have to be able to type
fast to follow along) -Limited opportunity to ask questions
during class due to the amount of content to be covered
in two hours -The absence of content repetition -Typing
proficiency affects student's ability to follow along
Please upload any images that will help to showcase
your project.
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