Abstract: Based on the cognitive load theory, the influence of the flipped classroom teaching approach on students’ learning effects, as well as the moderating role of course difficulty is explored.  Data were collected from 174 college students who were enrolled in two different courses: “Introduction to Management” and “Human Resource Management”. The research method adopts quasi-experimental design. The results showed that as to students’ learning effects, the flipped classroom approach was significantly better than the traditional lecturing method. With the increase of the course difficulty, the promoting role of flipped classroom on learning effects of professional basic courses decreased while as to professional practice courses, the promoting role increased. Contributions and implications are also discussed.

Key words: flipped classroom, learning effect, course nature, course difficulty, cognitive load, ANOVA