2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Flipped project-based learning (FPBL) combines pre-class content delivery [1]–[3] with in-class project-based application to promote active learning and authentic problem solving [4]–[6]. Active learning engages students through meaningful activities and reflection rather than passive listening [7], [8], while authentic engagement involves tasks mirroring real-world professional challenges [9], [10]. FPBL is well suited to engineering fields that demand the integration of theory, practical problem-solving, and teamwork.
Although flipped learning has been widely studied for its impact on student outcomes—across meta-analyses and discipline-specific implementations [11]–[13], [2], [14]—few studies have examined how instructors design and experience FPBL, particularly in technically intensive, lab-based courses such as computer science and engineering. Additionally, few studies trace a single instructor’s ongoing reflections and adaptive strategies during the implementation of FPBL, leaving an important gap in the literature.
This study addresses this gap by exploring a computer science instructor’s experience and perspective in designing and teaching an undergraduate drone programming course structured around FPBL. The study is guided by four questions: (a) What rationales underlie the instructor’s design decisions regarding the overall course structure?; (b) What challenges and barriers arise during the adoption of FPBL?; (c) How does the instructor perceive the role of FPBL in fostering student engagement and learning? and d) What instructional strategies and design adjustments are reported as effective or necessary during implementation?
The instructor is a computer science professor at a four-year university’s engineering college with 20 years of experience and a research focus on wireless networks and cyber-aerial computing. His previous courses have been lecture-based, and this transition was motivated by his recognition of learning gaps in previous courses that he believes FPBL could effectively address. The course is designed in collaboration with instructional technology researchers and is organized into three phases and enrolls 20 junior/senior students. The first two weeks of the course are dedicated to core theory of understanding drones such as drone ethics and laws and regulations. This is followed by 11 weeks of laboratory-based project work emphasizing teamwork, drone control, and algorithm design. The students are divided into two alternating groups (10 students each) working in pairs. Groups attend scheduled 80-minute lab sessions on Tuesdays or Thursdays, with optional self-booked practice available on Wednesdays and Fridays. The final week is exam preparation.
Data are being collected through weekly lab observations, instructor reflection logs, and pre- and post- interviews with the instructor. The dataset will be analyzed using qualitative content analysis [15], involving iterative coding and thematic categorization to identify recurring patterns in instructional design decisions and instructor reflections. Findings from this study contribute to engineering education by illuminating the instructor’s FPBL design perspective, identifying practical strategies for balancing lectures and labs, and describing the experience of implementing project-oriented teaching models in computer science.