The "flipped" classroom model, including such approaches as team-based learning (TBL), stresses pre-class preparation. For three years in a pharmacokinetics course within a pharmacy curriculum, students had the choice of using reading material or a fully animated module to prepare for class. Qualitative methods were used to analyze students' preferences. Two thirds of the students preferred reading over the multimedia modules, with easier notation and self-pacing as the primary reasons. Students who preferred reading over the modules scored approximately one-half grade higher on their quizzes. Despite the theoretical advantages offered by the visual presentation of information, students' preference for reading was due to several factors, primarily self-pacing.