EFFECT OF FLIPPED CLASSROOM ON PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ CRITICAL THINKING IN MICROTEACHING
Microteaching remains a foundational practice in Nigerian Colleges of Education, yet many preservice teachers continue to struggle with practical classroom delivery because of underdeveloped critical thinking, limited Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration, and resistance to innovative pedagogies. This paper examines the effect of the Flipped Classroom (FC) strategy, embedded within the Microteaching Augmented Learning Activities (MTALA) framework designed using the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model and mediated by the Moodle Learning Management System on preservice teachers’ critical thinking development and microteaching competency acquisition. Anchored in Constructivist Learning Theory, Cognitive Load Theory, and the RED Model of critical thinking (Recognize Assumptions, Evaluate Arguments, Draw Conclusions), the study employed a convergen mixed methods quasi-experimental design. Sixty Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) II preservice teachers from the Federal College of Education, Yola, were assigned to either an experimental group (taught using the flipped, technology-mediated MTALA approach) or a control group (taught using the traditional teach-reteach cycle). Quantitative data were gathered through the Microteaching Observation Rubric (MOR) and the Critical Thinking Descriptive Observation Rubric (CTDOR), and analysed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, the Quade Test, and Spearman’s correlation in IBM SPSS version 27. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with six participants were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase thematic framework. Findings revealed statistically significant improvements across all three critical thinking dimensions and all three microteaching competency domains, with the experimental group outperforming the control group by approximately 119–130% in key microteaching skills. Spearman’s correlation produced a weak, non-significant association (ρ = 0.097, p = 0.611) between critical thinking and microteaching performance scores, suggesting that the two competencies develop along parallel, non-linear progressions. Thematic analysis yielded nine validated themes that substantiated the quantitative results. The study concludes that the flipped classroom approach, when systematically embedded within a technology-mediated instructional design, offers a scalable and replicable strategy for narrowing the theory-practice gap in Nigerian teacher education.