Supporting first-year classical philology students: a flipped classroom approach to ancient greek learning

Abstract

Following the implementation of LOMLOE, the weekly hours allocated to Ancient Greek in Catalonia’s secondary education curriculum have decreased. Moreover, the number of public secondary schools in Catalonia and Spain offering Classical Greek has significantly declined. As a result, many students enrolling in the Degree in Classical Philology at the University of Barcelona have little or no prior knowledge of Ancient Greek. From the 2024–2025 academic year onwards, weekly contact hours for degree courses have also been reduced from 3 hours and 30 minutes to 3 hours. In addition, recent years have seen increased absenteeism, lower attendance, and higher dropout rates among first-year students. To address these challenges, during the 2025–2026 academic year the Electra Teaching Innovation Group is implementing four optional practical seminars for first-year students without prior knowledge of Ancient Greek, funded by RIMDA (2025PID-UB/008) — Research and Innovation for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning. Introduction to Greek I is a key subject, as it is the first Greek language course students encounter, and successful completion is crucial for progress in subsequent courses. Held on Friday mornings between October and December—days not devoted to regular classes at the Faculty of Philology and Communication—each two-hour seminar adopts a flipped classroom approach. Students prepare by viewing audiovisual resources on the Electra website, enabling the seminars to focus on practical activities, including individual, paired, and collaborative exercises. Communication and resources are provided through a dedicated Virtual Campus. While the seminars are not taught by the Introduction to Greek I instructor, they are coordinated with them and led by Electra members, allowing students to meet different professors from across the degree programme. This proposal is expected to be transferable to other courses in the Degree in Classical Philology. The initiative aims to enhance student engagement and commitment, thereby increasing attendance and participation while reducing first-year dropout rates. Likewise, the materials available on the Electra Group website could serve as a valuable resource for teaching Ancient Greek in secondary education, fostering knowledge transfer and supporting the transition from secondary education to university.