A Study on Self-Directed Learning Attitude and Academic Achievement in a flipped English Classroom

Flipped learning has become a buzzword for teachers who are interested in learner-centered instruction. Furthermore, teachers can provide a customized education for students’ individual needs as they actively participate in knowledge construction and evaluating their learning (Bergamnn & Sams, 2012). As Knowles defined in his study (1975), self-directed learning is as a multifaceted process of taking initiatives in self-motivation, self-management, self-modification, and self-monitoring of learning and can be bolstered by flipped learning. A number of researches on self-directed learning attitude in flipped classrooms have reported positive effects in various educational fields (Park, H., & Lee, J. 2018; You & Kim, 2017; Kim, 2016; Lee, Kang, & Kim, 2015; Park, 2015). However, there have been a dearth of studies on the relationship between self-directed learning and academic achievement in a flipped classroom in English learning contexts. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating university students’ self-directed learning attitude and academic achievement in a flipped classroom. For the study aim, the research questions are as follows: 1) What are characteristics of learner’s self-directed learning attitude in the flipped classroom?; 2) Are there meaningful relationships between student’s self-directed learning attitude and academic achievement in the flipped classroom?; 3) Are there differences in students’ self-directed learning attitude by students’ academic achievement(top 30% vs. bottom 30%)? To figure out the research questions, a survey questionnaire was conducted to find out student’s self-directed learning attitude in flipped classroom along with a 15-week class observation. Then, in-depth interviews for qualitative data collection were conducted to further investigate and understand students’ self-directed learning attitude in a flipped classroom. For quantitative data analysis, a frequency, correlation and cross-tab analysis were conducted. The statistical analyses produced the following results: 1) Students showed positive answers in five characteristics of self-directed learning attitude in flipped classroom; 2) There were no statistically meaningful correlations between self-directed learning attitude and academic achievement; and 3) There were no statistically meaningful differences in self-directed learning attitude by academic achievement. The findings from the qualitative data analysis revealed that students felt positive about flipped learning and their self-directed learning attitude has increased over time. However, there were a few limitations in this study: 1)Academic achievement defined for this study was not clear in figuring out differences in selfdirected learning attitude; 2) Since a pre- and post-test were not conducted before and after flipped learning, it was hard to maintain that there were changes in students’ self-directed learning attitude over time.