Applications of an Online Audience Response System in Different Academic Settings: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Technology dependent, digitally innate students are joining academia. Consequently, traditional pedagogical techniques for achieving desired learning outcomes are not universally sufficient. Digital clickers were introduced in the early 2000 for engaging students and maintaining their attention span during lectures. However, some studies are critical about their usage as they consume valuable time during the class which can result in further compromises concerning achieving learning outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the application of an online Audience Response System (ARS) a.k.a "clicker" in different academic settings. To achieve this, the researchers conducted an empirical study that identified the effectiveness of using an online ARS in multiple academic use cases. The use cases consisted of audiences with varying academic backgrounds and levels of academic achievement. All the presented topics were related to research in cybersecurity. The study identified that clickers can be a useful tool for audience engagement in a complex topic like cybersecurity.