In my first year of undergrad, science classes often meant being in a lecture hall with three or four hundred other students. Unlucky latecomers sat on the floor or on the stairs between the rows of seats. The pace was usually non-stop, with dense slides rushing by as the professor tried to cover everything in under an hour. There wasn’t much time to pause or ask questions. Labs were not much easier: overcrowded benches, a ticking clock, and everyone trying to catch up at once.
In this intense environment, not everyone started on equal footing. Some classmates had already seen the material in high school, while others were encountering it for the first time. This uneven preparation meant some students got lost in the details while others were ready to move ahead.
That is where a flipped classroom can make a difference. Instead of trying to absorb everything during a fast lecture, students prepare in advance at their own pace with the core material. Class and lab time can then be used for what is usually missing in those large first-year courses: space to think, ask questions, and really engage with the topic alongside peers and instructors.