Peer Instruction is a popular method of implementation when using Student Response Systems (SRS) in classroom teaching. The students engage in peer discussion to solve conceptual multiple choice problems. Before discussion, students are given time to think and give individual responses with a voting device. In this paper, we investigate how this initial voting session affects students' experiences of the following discussion. The data is based on student interviews which were analyzed using analytical tools from grounded theory. The students emphasize the individual thinking period as crucial for constructing explanations, argumentation, and participation during discussions, and hence for facilitating learning. However, displaying the results from the initial vote can be devastating for the quality of the discussions, especially when there is a clear majority for a specific alternative. These findings are discussed in light of recent quantitative studies on Peer Instruction.

The authors present a Student Response System for modern Internet-capable mobile devices, which was developed in a European R&D project, co-funded by the European Commission. The goal was to make a system that is designed for speed, ease of use, and flexibility for use in lectures. The authors have tried to make a time efficient and intuitive system that does not compromise flexibility and that enables the teacher to use any lecture format he/she sees fit. The only requirement is a computer with an Internet connection; the teacher is not bound to specific presentation software. The system is Web-based, enabling students to use their own mobile device or computer. The cost for both educational institutions and students is kept at a minimum, lowering the threshold for using the system in education. As of today, the program is free of charge and can be found at histproject.no.

This article reports experiences achieved during the development of open, online Student Response Services (SRS), and the emerging extension of these SRS into assessment services carried out on modern mobile devices. The evaluation results obtained from engineering classes in Norway that have used the online SRS, show very good results. The online SRS is flexible, intuitive, easy and fast to use. They may be used together with any kind of software. It is also reported how teachers are going to use a forthcoming and extended version of the SRS, as a tool for verification or elaborative feedback immediately after completion of tests and exams. This may be done for single students or groups of students. The development of the SRS and the forthcoming assessment system is co-funded by the EU-Commission through the Lifelong Learning Programme.

This article presents methodological experiences and evaluation results obtained during introduction and testing of a new online student response system (SRS) for modern mobile devices at Sør-Trøndelag University College, in Norway. The aim of the test period was methodological development, based on student evaluation. Using in-depth interviews with students, awareness of how SRS was comprehended by the students in their learning process increased. Several methodological choices and practical challenges were faced when introducing SRS. The procedures and methodological choices were based on published experience and the authors’ assumptions. However, what was believed to be important pedagogical, were among the students perceived as positive but not in the way expected. The students have a clear perspective on their own learning process and gave insight into how SRS fit into their own learning process. Students’ perceptions regarding methodology, in combination with their own experience of learning, appear as a necessary ingredient for an appropriate implementation and use of SRS in teaching.