Maximising Preclass Learning through Collaborative Strategies in the Flipped Classroom

Flipped classrooms rely on students completing preparatory work before class, yet ensuring meaningful engagement with assigned readings remains a persistent challenge. This paper reports on the use of Perusall, a collaborative social annotation platform, to promote pre class reading in an advanced academic reading and writing course at a Hong Kong university. The intervention was implemented with approximately 200 undergraduate students and subsequently scaled up in a second semester to around 600 students. Completion and engagement with the online readings together with other tasks performed on Perusall contributed 15% to the final course grade. A large part of the scoring was calculated using Perusall’s AI supported scoring system, thereby minimising teacher marking workload while maintaining accountability. At all times, teachers could override the auto calculated score.
Using a mixed methods approach, the study draws on student surveys, learning analytics from the online platform, assessment results, and focus group interviews with both students and teachers. Findings indicate a positive relationship between students’ engagement with pre class reading and their academic performance. Students reported increased accountability and deeper interaction with texts, while teachers valued improved student preparedness and more productive use of in class time. Some teachers, however, expressed uncertainty about how best to leverage the freed up class time within a flipped design.
The paper concludes by discussing practical implications for assessment supported pre class reading and argues that this scalable approach can be readily transferred to similar courses and institutional contexts.