AN EVALUATION OF STUDENT RESPONSE SYSTEMS FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

Student response systems, often referred to as “clickers” are small hand-held devices which students may remotely respond to questions that are posed during lecture. In this research, the perspectives and lived experiences of both instructors and students who used clickers were examined. Also, the activities used by instructors were compared to Bloom’s taxonomy levels to provide a new component to our understanding of the impact of clickers. Instructors saw clickers as one tool in supporting student learning in their classrooms. The improved participation, immediate feedback, impact on attendance, and relatively easy formative assessment that result from the use of clickers provided the instructors a method of engaging students. The students requested the increase in use because they felt the use of clickers did supported or improved their classroom learning. They also enjoyed the peer discussions that instructors facilitated with regard to the use of clickers. Consequently, it was found that these systems were especially valuable tool for introductory courses and for monitoring peer learning methods in the large lecture classroom.