Suitability of the flipped classroom strategy for teaching classification of plants and animals to grade 12 learners

The study aimed to gather learner feedback on the suitability of the flipped classroom strategy, incorporating multimedia, for teaching the classification of plants and animals to Grade 12 biology learners. A pre-experimental design used a pretest and posttest approach with one intact class (N = 29) at a girls’ boarding school in Luapula Province, Zambia. Data from two focus group discussions were analysed thematically. The findings corroborate existing literature, indicating that the flipped classroom enhances learning. However, they challenge the normative view of the flipped classroom and suggest that not all learners benefit. The implications for practice are that for the flipped classroom to be effective it needs teacher clarification and taking into account learner differences. But also, for low resource countries like Zambia, there is need to support the integration of multimedia technology in schools.