A comparison of the effect of using the Flipped instruction with the traditional teaching method on learning and academic self-efficacy of Persian lessons

Background and Objectives: Technological teaching methods in today's world, such as flipped teaching, as an important and integral part of the set of teaching-learning activities, have created unique opportunities for teachers to teach better and use different teaching approaches according to the needs of each student to help them learn more. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of flipped approach and traditional teaching method on the learning rate and the academic self-efficacy of Persian lessons for the second-grade elementary students.Methods: This is applied research in terms of purpose and a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test in terms of nature. The statistical population included all female students in the second grade of elementary school in district 4 of Tehran in the academic year of 2018-2019. Sampling was done randomly in multi-stage clusters. Two classes were selected as the research sample of the study with 25 students in one class and 35 students in the other. All students were pre-tested and then distributed homogeneously in both classes. In one of the classes, the Persian lessons were taught using flipped instruction (an advanced teaching approach based on information and communication technology), and in the other class, the same lessons were taught utilizing the traditional teaching method (a conventional way of teaching including lectures, questions and answers) and then the post-test was taken. It should be noted that all students who received flipped method had at least one electronic device such as a tablet, cell phone, DVD or CD player and computer at home in order to watch the videos and have classroom feedback the next day. Data collection instruments to assess the level of learning Persian lessons included the researcher-made Academic Achievement Questionnaire for the Persian lessons of the second-grade elementary school. Also, the data collection instrument to measure the students' self-efficacy was the Standard Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (MJSES), the content validity of which was confirmed by twelve educational experts while the reliability of both scales was evaluated and confirmed by the statistical tests.Findings: The results of the analysis of covariance showed that the flipped instruction had a positive effect on the learning rate and self-efficacy of the second grade elementary students in the experimental group; that is the rate of learning and self-efficacy of the students who have learned the Persian lessons of second grade elementary school by the flipped approach, has been higher than the students who have learned the Persian lessons by the traditional teaching method including questions and answers.Conclusions: Using the flipped instruction as a new technological teaching method can strengthen individual learning and increase students' sense of self-efficacy more than the traditional teaching method. Since the learner actively learns by engaging with the content of the lessons before attending the classroom, she/he can participate in the class with more readiness. It means that his or her previous preparation leads to deeper learning and a sense of efficiency. Therefore, using this technological teaching method especially during the corona pandemic while attending the classes is limited is recommended and it should be included at the top of the education agenda in order to deepen students' learning experiences in Persian lessons.