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.
