Scholars have suggested that flipped learning can be enhanced by designing effective in-class learning activities to improve students' higher order thinking skills. Problem posing has been recognized as such a learning strategy that has great potential for improving students' higher order thinking skills. However, it has been reported as a challenging task for most students. Research evidence has indicated the potential of engaging students in group learning with step-by-step hints when conducting problem-posing activities. Therefore, this study proposed a multilevel concept mapping-based problem-posing strategy to assist students in completing the problem-posing tasks in flipped learning. To understand the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, a flipped learning system was developed and adopted in the science class of an elementary school. Seventy-five fifth graders from three classes were divided into experimental group A, experimental Group B and a control group. Students in Group A used the concept map-guided problem-posing strategy for flipped learning (CMPP-FL), students in Group B used the problem-posing strategy-based flipped learning, while students in the control group used the conventional flipped learning strategy. The results showed that the CMPP-FL was effective in terms of improving students' learning performance, especially for students with higher levels of critical thinking tendency.