There is a need in classrooms to engage students and maintain their interest in course content. A recent type of interactive technology, known as a "clicker," has shown potential to increase student engagement, performance, and participation in the classroom when used effectively. Peer instruction, a type of student to student interaction in which pairs or small groups of students discuss their answers to questions before responding, is often used in conjunction with clickers, and may account for the perceived effectiveness of these tools. The purpose of this study is to determine the clicker's effectiveness in increasing learning and increasing student engagement in secondary classrooms, while controlling for their use during peer instruction. Two classrooms were examined (n ~ 15 for each classroom) in which 1 classroom used clickers integrated with peer instruction activities, while the other classroom only did the peer instruction activities. The findings of this study showed no significant difference in student learning, a small increase in student engagement, and a positive student reaction to the clicker's potential and use in the classroom.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pdx.edu/oai:pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu:open_access_etds-1143 |
| Date | 01 January 2011 |
| Creators | Mankowski, Andrew James |
| Publisher | PDXScholar |
| Source Sets | Portland State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Dissertations and Theses |
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