A shift has begun from instructor-focused learning techniques and philosophies to those that are student-focused, where the instructor acts as a "guide" and not a dictator of knowledge (Marcketti, 2011, p. 548). An approach gaining wide attention as a tool for reaching 21st century students is the flipped classroom. Researchers suggest that flipped classrooms lead to better student engagement and overall learning (Bormann, 2014). However, critics note that this technique is grounded in a possibly flawed pedagogy: the lecture (Ash, 2012). A mixed methods approach was used to investigate the effectiveness of a flipped classroom approach in an apparel merchandising course. The course was redesigned with two flipped units and two lecture-based units. Results indicated no significant differences in exam scores between the units and students preferred the social aspect of learning in the lecture-based classroom over what they perceived as "learning on their own" in the flipped classroom.