Abstract:
Audience response systems (ARS), clickers, when used in classrooms are said to
improve a myriad of learning outcomes, including engagement, retaining information, student involvement and class attendance. The purpose of this research was to determine if audience response systems improve classroom learning outcomes, as measured by how it measures attendance, pre and post-knowledge, and performance assessments. This study took place in four sections of Introduction to Human Communication, all taught by the same instructor at a comprehensive university in the southeastern United States.
A 2 x 2 quasi-experimental design was employed, with three of the classes
randomly assigned a condition, and a fourth class randomly assigned as the control group. Students in the three sections with conditions were given questions during the daily class lectures. Of the three sections with a condition, one answered the questions on paper and received points, the second used clickers to answer the questions and received points, and the third used clickers to answer questions and did not receive points. The fourth group, the control group, was not given any questions during the same lecture. For the two classes that received points for correctly answering questions during
the lecture, the points available from the questions accounted for .06% of the final grade.
The study also looked at student attendance to determine if points given during the lecture for the three conditions resulted in fewer absences. In addition, scores from a pre and post-test, and pre and post-speech, were used to determine if learning was improved
equally across the four sections.