Question Do student response systems enhance student learning? Computer based student response systems are becoming more common. Advantages that are touted include being able to take attendance, ability to include every student, and instantaneous feedback to both the teacher and students. Whether this system improves teaching and learning over other methods is difficult to determine, and can be influenced by gut reactions and predispositions for or against the technology. In this study will look at the difference between just posing a question in class and asking the same question in class where the students are expected to respond.

Technique Methodologies & Types of Evidence of Student Learning Gathered Two lecture sections of a second semester calculus based course are being taught by the same professor with the same lectures. The only difference is that one class used a clicker system to answer 1-6 multiple choice questions during the lecture. The other class was only shown the question, with a typical call for a raise of hands or for a single student to respond. The same amount of time was given to both classes to think about the answer. Thus in the clicker class all students were always expected to answer the question. In the second they did not have the same expectation, and could thus wait for the answer in anonymity. For tests questions were selected for both classes that had been previously posed and reworded into new multiple choice questions. The results of the clicker class compared to the non-clicker class will be compared. In addition attendance is taken in both classes daily in order to take out any student who missed the relevant lecture. Although these numbers are quite small, with a range of zero to six students out of 40 missing any particular lecture, we will attempt to see if there is any change in their correct response rate.

Sample Questions from the Study A small child and a grown adult are standing next to each other. Which one experiences a larger pressure due to the surrounding air? a) The Adult b) The Child c) They are the same d) Cannot determine with the information provided This question is looking to see if the student can differentiate between pressure and force, and understand which is contant and which is changing. The pressure is the same, and from the equation p=F/A we know that the larger surface area adult has a larger force.

Interpreting Results When interpreting results we are specifically looking at the difference between actively seeking response to questions from all students with a computer based system compared to just asking the students to think about the question. There are many variables to control. Many of them are taken care of by having the exact same lecture given by the same professor. The other major variable is the effect of waiting for responses. In the SRS class I know exactly how many people have responded. With the non-clicker class, which follows the SRS class, I wait the same time as I did in the first class. The effect of not continually talking and lecturing is difficult to understand, but must be implemented in order for the students to have enough time to ponder the material. The analysis will include looking to see how the two classes compare over the common set of questions that were posed during lectures to see if there is a difference. In addition we will look at the multiple choice questions that were based on homework problems and lectures that did not have previous MC problems posed to see if there is a common base line for students.

Results Compiling results in Spring 2008

Career Relevance & Impact As with any new technology the important question to ask is whether the new method makes any difference, or whether change is being made for changes sake. Knowing how to implement the technology effectively and what results you can expect is important. This is especially true when there is a time committment involved in getting the method incorporated into your classes.