Applications of Reciprocal Teaching in Flipped Classroom to Facilitate High Level of Cognition for Sustainable Learning Practices

In traditional engineering education, students usually have little training on project implementation. Therefore, students have few chances to cultivate and develop their high-level cognitive abilities for the sake of achieving sustainable learning practices. We carried out two consecutive studies to overcome this issue. In both studies, we incorporated a flipped classroom approach into the project-based engineering education curriculum. Twelve junior graduate students majoring in electrical engineering participated in Study 1, and ten junior graduate students participated in Study 2. They all took the Signal Processing of Power Quality Disturbances class and practiced their skills in a computer lab, using LabView software. After we found from the results of Study 1 that the learning activities placed a heavier load on students and their advanced cognitive skills were not developed well, the reciprocal teaching method was introduced to students in Study 2. We assumed that the reciprocal teaching method could improve these outcomes, as well as achieve sustainable learning practices. The results demonstrated that students’ load in Study 2 was reduced, and their high-level cognitive skills improved compared to those in Study 1. Based on these results, we conclude that the reciprocal teaching method can be incorporated into the flipped classroom during project-based engineering education, as it helps prevent students from becoming overloaded, facilitates cognitive abilities from basic to high, and ensures sustainable learning practices.