2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This longitudinal study investigates the long-term impact of flipped classroom instruction on engineering student success, with a specific focus on downstream academic performance and course completion. Over eight years, data were collected from 2,339 students enrolled in an introductory course in digital logic design, comparing outcomes between those who took the course in a flipped format versus a traditional or active learning format. The flipped classroom model restructures the learning environment by shifting content delivery to pre-class activities (e.g., videos, readings) and using class time for collaborative problem-solving. Prior research has demonstrated short-term benefits of flipped learning, including improved test scores and engagement. However, few studies have examined whether these benefits persist in prerequisite-dependent courses over time. Three studies were conducted involving three separate analyses of the same longitudinal dataset. Academic performance in the downstream courses was compared with the Mann-Whitney U test. Study 1 analyzed student performance in six subsequent engineering courses. Significant gains were observed only in a discrete structures course requiring foundational Boolean logic knowledge taught in the introductory digital logic design course. Study 2 focused on this course and found that students who took the flipped version of the digital logic design course consistently performed better in the discrete structures course across various demographic groups. Particularly notable were improvements among female, domestic, and White-Asian students. Study 3 examined DFW (D, F, Withdraw) rates in the digital design course itself, revealing a substantial decrease from 13% in the non-flipped format to 8% in the flipped format. Underrepresented and at-risk student populations—such as first-generation, BIPOC, and international students—saw some of the most significant reductions in DFW rates. While the flipped model did not impact performance in most downstream courses (likely due to weaker curricular alignment) the findings show that flipped learning in foundational engineering courses can improve performance in directly related subsequent courses and reduce course failure and attrition rates, especially for historically marginalized student populations. This study provides compelling longitudinal evidence supporting the strategic use of flipped learning in core engineering curricula to promote equity and student success.