Student engagement is a critical component of effective classroom instruction. Many socio-constructive pedagogies, including active learning and peer instruction, depend upon students not only paying attention to, but actively shaping, the learning environment. Student response devices, such as clickers, are thought to increase student engagement by providing students with regular opportunities to check their comprehension or express their opinions. Claims of increased student engagement due to clicker use are often based upon student self-reports and have only a small correlation with observed learning gains or other measures of attentiveness. This paper compared self-report data, pre- and post-test scores, and a direct test of attentiveness to investigate what effect clicker use has on student engagement. Analyses showed that subjects using clickers were significantly slower to respond to tests of attentiveness than subjects in other conditions. This suggests that using clickers affects what students are able or willing to attend to during a lecture. / text

This study reports middle school astronomy classes that implemented photographs and classroom response systems (CRSs) in a discussion-oriented pedagogy with a curriculum unit for the topics of day-night and cause of seasons. In the new pedagogy, a teacher presented conceptual questions with photographs, her 6th grade students responded using the CRSs, and the teacher facilitated classroom discussion based on the student responses. I collected various data: classroom observation with field-note taking and videotaping, student pre- and post-conception tests, student attitude survey and classroom short surveys, and teacher interviews. Classroom video recordings and teacher interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with the grounded theory approach. This approach was used to analyze the open responses of the student attitude survey as well. Pre- and post- conception tests consisted of open-ended questions and they were scored based upon rubrics. Numerical data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and simple t-tests. In this study, I answered three research questions: 1) student-teacher discourses and interaction patterns while learning and teaching with the photographs and CRSs in the new pedagogy; 2) 6th grade students’ misconceptions about the concepts of day-night and cause of seasons, and their knowledge gains after they had the intervention; and 3) the students’ and the teacher’s attitude toward the new curriculum and the new pedagogy. Finally, I discuss the student-teacher interaction model and three important teacher-questionings in this pedagogy; levels of misconceptions; and the pedagogical roles of the photographs and CRSs.

In recent years many teachers and students have begun having good access to digital technology in their classrooms, and in the context of Sweden the majority of secondary schools are known as one-to-one schools, with students having their own computer or tablet. However, the mere presence of technology in the classroom is not a guarantee for improved teaching and learning. In fact, there is a challenge involved with integrating technology in the classroom and many teachers need support. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to contribute to the knowledge about support for teachers integrating digital technology, especially a classroom response system (CRS), in the mathematics classroom. This is done by focusing on frameworks for CRS task design and technology integration. The thesis consists of two papers and a kappa. Both papers use data from a design research project including interventions in two cases. Paper I focuses on the development of design principles and task types for CRS tasks in a multiple-choice format aiming to engineer mathematical classroom discussions. The study generated three design principles, six task types, and 31 empirically evaluated tasks. The empirical evaluation shows that teachers consider the evaluated CRS tasks useful for engineering mathematical classroom discussions. Paper II focuses on exploring the potential of Ruthven’s (2009) SFCP framework as tool for analyzing empirical data in order to conceptualize and analyze teachers’ reasoning about critical aspects of technology integration in the mathematics classroom. The results show that the SFCP framework can be useful for capturing teachers’ reasoning about critical aspects of technology integration, but also that the framework does not capture teachers’ reasoning about students’ attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the framework would benefit from taking into consideration students’ attitudes and behaviors, as these features are a challenge teachers need to deal with when integrating technology in the classroom. This thesis kappa, building on earlier research as well as the results and methods of its own papers, ends with an elaborated discussion on the challenges and support for teachers wanting to integrate CRS in their mathematics classroom. / Lärare och elever har idag god tillgång till digital teknik i klassrummen. I Sverige är numera majoriteten av högstadie- och gymnasieskolorna en-till-en skolor där alla elever har en egen dator eller surfplatta. Blotta närvaron av digital teknik i klassrummen är inte en garanti för förbättrad undervisning och ökat lärande. I själva verket så är det en utmaning att integrera digital teknik i klassrummet och många lärare behöver stöd för att lyckas med detta. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att bidra till kunskap om stöd för lärare som integrerar digitala verktyg i matematikklassrummet. Detta görs dels genom att fokusera på ramverk för att konstruera matematikuppgifter till digitala responssystem och dels genom att undersöka ett ramverk för teknikintegrering i undervisningen. Uppsatsen består av två artiklar och en kappa. Båda artiklarna använder data från ett designforskningsprojekt bestående av interventioner i två separat fall. Artikel I fokuserar på utvecklingen av designprinciper och uppgiftstyper för flervalsuppgifter till digitala responssystem. Uppgifterna syftar till att initiera och fördjupa matematiska diskussioner i klassrummet. Studien genererade tre designprinciper, sex uppgiftstyper och 31 empiriskt utvärderade flervalsuppgifter som kan användas för att välja, värdera och konstruera uppgifter till responssystem. Den empiriska utvärderingen visar att lärarna anser att de testade uppgifterna och uppgiftstyperna är användbara för att initiera matematiska klassrumsdiskussioner. Artikel II fokuserar på att undersöka potentialen av Ruthvens (2009) ramverk ”Structuring Features of Classroom Practice” (SFCP), som ett analytiskt verktyg för att begreppsliggöra och analysera lärares resonemang om kritiska aspekter vid teknikintegrering i matematikklassrummet. Resultatet visar att ramverket är användbart för att fånga lärares resonemang om kritiska aspekter vid teknikintegrering i undervisningen, men också att ramverket inte fångade lärares resonemang om elevers attityder och uppförande. Studien föreslår att ramverket kan utvecklas och förbättras genom att även ta hänsyn till elevernas attityder och uppförande, eftersom detta är kritiska aspekter som lärare behöver hantera när de integrerar teknik i klassrummet. Med utgångspunkt från tidigare forskning och resultaten i artiklarna avslutas uppsatsens kappa med en utvecklad diskussion om utmaningar och stöd för lärare som integrerar digitala responssystem i matematikklassrummet.

In this thesis I present a collaborative annotation strategy to improve the usability of audio/visual meeting recordings. Meeting records are inherently difficult to navigate without structure, and even full transcripts do not always address this problem. Through the use of collaborative annotations some structure can be provided. The current study examines the use of a scalable classroom response system to allow groups to conveniently and easily provide these annotations during a class or meeting and presents a web-based video browser that uses these annotations to greatly improve the efficiency and satisfaction in a later information retrieval task. The applicability of this annotation strategy is discussed in a range of situations across formal meetings, classroom situations, and online audio and video.

Användningen av mobiltelefoner har ökat avsevärt och blivit alltmer vanlig i dagens samhälle. Teknikens framsteg har påverkat människors beteenden och vanor. Med den nuvarande tekniken finns det en ökning av användningsområden för mobiltelefoner, vilket leder till en ökning av mobilanvändare. Trots detta har utvecklingen av mobilvänlig design inte skett i samma takt som tekniken har fortskridit. Detta har skapat ett stort behov av att anpassa webbsidor för mobilanvändning. Syftet med denna studie är att belysa användningen av den mobila lärplattformen Canvas. Genom att utgå från rekommendationer för förbättringar av den mobila lärplattformen undersöker studien studenters och instruktörers uppfattningar om Canvas samt deras syn på föreslagna mobilvänliga förbättringar av plattformen. Det bör noteras att studien inte inkluderade rekommendationer för storskaliga förbättringar, eftersom fokus var på användningen av Canvas vid Högskolan i Borås. Dessutom begränsades respondenternas erfarenheter av den befintliga lärplattformen till Högskolan i Borås. För att vidare undersöka ämnet genomförde respondenterna formativa bedömningar med hjälp av ett system som kallas Formative, vilket möjliggjorde förbättringsförslag. Detta system presenterades under fem föreläsningar vid Högskolan i Borås. Efter föreläsningarna genomfördes en enkätundersökning bland samtliga deltagande studenter. underlätta inlärningsprocessen på den mobila lärplattformen Canvas. / In today's society, the use of mobile phones has increased dramatically and become increasingly common. Technological advancements have transformed people's habits. With the current technology, there are more and more applications for mobile phones, leading to a rise in mobile users. However, the development of mobile-friendly design has not kept pace with technological advancements. This has resulted in a significant need to adapt websites for mobile usage. This study aims to shed light on the mobile usage of the Canvas learning platform. Based on recommendations for improving the mobile learning platform Canvas, this study examines how students and instructors perceive Canvas and their opinions on proposed mobile-friendly enhancements to the platform. However, this study does not address recommendations for larger-scale improvements as the main focus is on the usage of the platform at the University of Borås. Additionally, the respondents experiences with the existing Canvas platform at the University of Borås were defined. To further the research, respondents were asked to provide formative assessments using a system called Formative, which facilitates improvement suggestions. This was presented in four lectures at the University of Borås. Subsequently, a survey was conducted among all participating students and lecturers.

abstract: Clickers are a common part of many classrooms across universities. Despite the widespread use, education researchers disagree about how to best use these tools and about how they impact students. Prior work has shown possible differential impacts of clickers based on demographic indicators, such as age, gender, and ethnicity. To explore these topics a two-part project was designed. First, a literature review was completed focusing on past and current clicker practices and the research surrounding them. Second, original data, stratified by demographic characteristics, was collected on student perceptions of clickers. The literature review revealed that not all uses of clickers are created equal. Instructors in higher education first introduced clickers to enhance traditional pedagogies by simplifying common classroom tasks (e.g. grading, attendance, feedback collection). More recently, instructors pair clickers and novel pedagogies. A review of the identified benefits and drawbacks for students and instructors is provided for both approaches. Instructors can use different combinations of technological competency and pedagogical content knowledge that lead to four main outcomes. When instructors have both technological competency and pedagogical content knowledge, all the involved parties, students and instructors, benefit. When instructors have technological competency but lack pedagogical content knowledge, instructors are the main benefactors. When instructors have pedagogical content knowledge alone, students can benefit, but usefulness to the instructor decreases. When instructors have neither technological competency nor pedagogical content knowledge, no party benefits. Beyond these findings, recommendations are provided for future clicker research. Second, the review highlighted that clickers may have a differential impact on students of different demographic groups. To explore this dynamic, an original study on student views of clickers, which included demographic data, was conducted. The original study does not find significantly different enthusiasm for clickers by demographic group, unlike prior studies that explored some of these relationships. However, white students and male students are overrepresented in the group that does not enjoy clickers. This conclusion is supported by visual observations from the means of the demographic groups. Overall, based on the review of the literature and original research, if instructors pair clickers with validated pedagogies, and if researchers continue to study clicker classrooms, including which students like and benefit from clickers, clickers may continue to be a valuable educational technology. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biology 2020

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Gerade in Großveranstaltungen geht die Interaktion zwischen Lehrenden und Lernenden häufig verloren. So genannte Classroom Response Systems (CRS) knüpfen an dieser fehlenden Aktivierung und Interaktion an, indem sie als technisches Hilfsmittel die klassischen Interaktionsformen wie Fragen oder Abstimmungen auch in Großveranstaltungen ermöglichen. Ein solches Feedbacksystem wurde mittels der myTU-App ohne kostenintensive Anschaffungen realisiert. Die Entwickler der myTU-App arbeiten stetig an der Weiterentwicklung und Verbesserung der App. Dafür ist es wichtig, sowohl die Bedürfnisse und Wünsche der Nutzer/innen, als auch die Ablehnungsgründe derer, die die App nicht nutzen, zu kennen. Aus diesem Grund wurde eine Evaluation zur myTU-App durchgeführt.

Gerade in Großveranstaltungen geht die Interaktion zwischen Lehrenden und Lernenden häufig verloren. So genannte Classroom Response Systems (CRS) knüpfen an dieser fehlenden Aktivierung und Interaktion an, indem sie als technisches Hilfsmittel die klassischen Interaktionsformen wie Fragen oder Abstimmungen auch in Großveranstaltungen ermöglichen. Ein solches Feedbacksystem wurde mittels der myTU-App ohne kostenintensive Anschaffungen realisiert. Die Entwickler der myTU-App arbeiten stetig an der Weiterentwicklung und Verbesserung der App. Dafür ist es wichtig, sowohl die Bedürfnisse und Wünsche der Nutzer/innen, als auch die Ablehnungsgründe derer, die die App nicht nutzen, zu kennen. Aus diesem Grund wurde eine Evaluation zur myTU-App durchgeführt.