Are Students Coming to Class Prepared? The Importance of Pre-Class Learning in a Flipped Classroom

ABSTRACT Despite extensive calls for the use of flipped classrooms in accounting, prior research has given little attention to the role of pre-class learning. Effective pre-class learning is essential to ensuring students still learn the basic class content that has been removed from a classroom to free up time for more active learning activities. If pre-class learning is not achieved, the value of the flipped classroom strategy is diminished. Through a review of existing literature, we provide accounting educators with a practical design guide for effectively implementing best-practices pre-class work in flipped classrooms. This article provides resources, design recommendations, and examples of flipped classroom implementation in an accounting education setting to foster more effective pre-class learning. We conclude with a call for research on various aspects of the flipped classroom in accounting education.