From passive to active: The impact of the flipped classroom through social learning platforms on higher education students' creative thinking

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the impact of the flipped classroom on the promotion of students' creative thinking. Students were recruited from the Faculty of Education at K ing A bdulaziz U niversity in S audi A rabia during the first semester of 2014. A multiple method research design was used to address the research questions. First, a two‐group quasi‐experimental design was implemented. The first group utilised the lecture‐based strategy ( n = 28), while the second group utilised the flipped classroom ( n = 27). Second, a survey questionnaire was distributed to assess the students' views about the flipped classroom, its role in the promotion of creativity and the difficulties students experienced with this strategy. The findings suggest that the flipped classroom may promote students' creativity, especially with regard to fluency, flexibility and novelty. Furthermore, the students viewed the flipped classroom as an approach that may significantly facilitate their creativity. However, several difficulties were associated with the flipped classroom, especially the students' limited preparation for this strategy. Accordingly, students must be prepared to utilise the flipped classroom and be provided with adequate e‐learning tools. In addition, it is important to consider students' study load and to provide meaningful in‐class activities.