Increasing interactivity in lectures using an electronic voting system

Abstract

An overview of the experience of the opening two years of an institution-wide project in introducing electronic voting equipment for lectures is presented. Eight different departments and a wide range of group size (up to 300) saw some use. An important aspect of this is the organizational one of addressing the whole institution, rather than a narrower disciplinary base. The mobility of the equipment, the generality of the educational analysis, and the technical support provided contributed to this. Evaluations of each use identified (formatively) the weakest spots and the most common benefits, and also (summatively) showed that learners almost always saw this as providing a net benefit to them. Various empirical indications support the theoretical view that learning benefits depend upon putting the pedagogy (not the technology) at the focus of attention in each use. Perceived benefits tended to increase as lecturers became more experienced in exploiting the approach. The most promising pedagogical approaches appear to be Interactive Engagement (launching peer discussions), and Contingent Teaching -designing sessions not as fixed scripts but to zero in on using diagnostic questions on the points that the particular audience most needs on this occasion.

Using Clickers to Support Information Literacy Skills Development and Instruction in First-Year Business Students

“…Misalignment of technology use and course outcomes disconnects students from the learning experience (Draper & Brown, 2004). Likewise, there was the danger of students simply giving conditioned responses to questions rather than actually engaging in any deeper learning (Parslow, 2007;Robinson, 2007).…”

“…From the design standpoint, the course content, not the technology needs to remain as the primary focus (Draper & Brown, 2004). Lecturers have acknowledged that a balance needs to be struck between the use of clickers in supporting learning outcomes and the actual course content, as both vie for time in lectures (Hoffman & Goodwin, 2006;Koppel & Bereson, 2008).…”

Exploring nursing student engagement in the learning environment for improved learning outcomes

“…Transferring knowledge and the effectiveness of clinical teaching-learning strategies lies in facilitating student engagement through promoting a diversity of experiences, creating shared learning opportunities, maximizing student-faculty interaction, involving students in active learning, and setting high expectations [26] . There is a positive impact of collaborative learning [27,28] , blended learning [29] , shared-learning experiences [30,31] , and technologies [32][33][34][35][36] for improving the engagement of students and development of capabilities. Students reported increased engagement in self-directed clinical learning activities like e-learning [37] and web based learning [38] for developing critical reasoning processes, and conveyed that learning was more dynamic and active compared to the learning experienced in the conventional curricula [35] .…”

The evaluation of i-SIDRA – a tool for intelligent feedback – in a course on the anatomy of the locomotor system

“…We believe that the instructors' experience in CRS approaches had a positive effect on the students' perceived satisfaction. As observed in previous literature [46], the benefits do not depend simply on the technology but on how well it is used to promote reflection in the learners. In our experiment, a computer science technician was always present to cover any eventuality.…”