Resiliency during COVID-19 Disruption: Flipped vs. Traditional Classrooms

We explore the resiliency (i.e., the ability of a system to return to its original state or move to a new desirable state after being disrupted) of traditional lecture-based classes and flipped classes in the face of disruption caused by COVID-19. One flipped class and one traditional lecture-based class, both taught in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, were selected. For the flipped class, data from the semester prior to and during the pandemic were analyzed, indicating that the flipped class was able to move from face-to-face to online learning with no significant difference in student satisfaction and engagement. Data collected for the traditional lecture-based class indicated significant less student engagement during the transition period from face to face to online learning, but, by the end of the pandemic semester, students had achieved a comparable level of satisfaction and engagement with their online learning environment to students in the flipped class. We conclude that both instructional modalities are resilient, albeit the traditional class had less student engagement when moved online. We suggest that a post COVID-19 policy encouraging faculty to have experience teaching online may be effective in ameliorating future disruptions.