Who wins when we Flip? Exploring perceptions of Flipped Learning in an Online EAP presessional course

Grounded in both constructivism and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), this thesis aimed to explore perceptions of flipped learning from students and teachers in an Online Presessional English for Academic Purposes course. As the move from a hybrid course to a fully online one was caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, I argue that the live-lesson should be classified as Emergency Remote Teaching (Hodges et al., 2020). By combining qualitative semi-structured interviews and quantitative questionnaires, this mixed methods case study explores students and teachers experiences of FL on a 10-week and a 6-week presessional course taught in the challenging circumstances of summer 2020. Using descriptive statistical analysis and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), this thesis shows an overwhelming positive perception of FL by practitioners and students alike. Crucially, the students’ findings show how FL, as implemented in the course object of study, fostered autonomy and integrated regulated behaviour. This study also highlighted the need to explicitly present the pedagogical principles underpinning FL, as well as the specific principles informing the course implementation, to students and, fundamentally, teachers for the course to be successful. This thesis concludes by insisting on the essential distinction between OL and ERT while calling for further research on FL and its relation to motivation.