An evaluation of the effectiveness of the instructional methods used with a Student Response System at a large university

Abstract

This study investigates the adoption of student response systems (SRS) across a large university campus. The study sought to understand how faculty members were using the SRS and what instructional strategies student and faculty found to be most valuable to their learning. The term “helpful” and the concept of “helpfulness” is used in place of “valuable” as it more clearly communicates to students and faculty the concept of how an SRS is of worth to them. Students were generally positive about the helpfulness of the instructional methods professors were using. Students found the ability to receive immediate feedback on their learning as the most helpful aspect of the SRS. They also felt their comprehension of course material, attendance to lecture, attentiveness/engagement during lecture, participation in lecture, and achievement in the course had increased from using the SRS. The cost of SRS transmitters had a negative effect on many students’ perceptions of the system’s overall utility. The least positive students felt that the cost of purchasing the clicker outweighed the benefits of using a student response system. These students rated the instructional methods as less helpful and rated their comprehension, attendance, engagement, participation, and achievement increasing less than those that felt the cost was worth the benefit.