Students' Perspectives on the Functionality of Flipped Classroom Approach in Master Thesis Seminar

Research studies are an important part of educational sciences curricula in Finland. However, these studies are challenging to conduct, given the various issues associated with teacher-led activities, lack of social presence, engagement, students’ collaborative work and time management, and large-scale writing process management comprising this environment. This study aimed to develop a program of master’s thesis seminar higher education pedagogy that employed a flipped classroom (FC) approach. While the FCapproach has been investigated in several contexts of higher education, it has only been minimally explored in the master’s thesis seminar. Participating students views and mixed-methods were used. Based on the quantitative results, students considered guidance and satisfaction with the FC approach high and difficulty low. Moreover, the FC approach was well suited to, and preferred by, the students, while not being overly straining. Based on the qualitative and mixed-methods results, the FC approach was seen as functional, goal-oriented, and flexible. Team spirit and the supervisor’s presence were considered to be positive aspects. However, negative experiences were also identified, such as time usage and opportunities for peer feedback. The results, discussion, limitations, and implications are presented in terms of research-based development work on an FC approach based master’s thesis seminar in higher education.