In the past few years, audience response technology (ART) has been widely adopted on college campuses, and is especially popular among instructors of large lecture classes. Claims regarding ART's benefits to students have received only limited empirical evaluation, and prior studies exhibit methodological limitations. The current study provides a multi-dimensional evaluation, utilizing a newly-developed measure, the Audience Response Technology Questionnaire (ART-Q). Data were provided at three points during a semester by undergraduate students (n = 854) who used ART in three large lecture university courses. Results indicate moderately positive evaluations of ART on some dimensions (e.g., ease of use, impact on attendance), with less positive evaluations on others (e.g., influence on preparation for class). These evaluations showed some variability across time of semester and course, but were not substantially affected by gender, ethnicity, or year in school. Findings are discussed with respect to the need for future research onIn the past few years, audience response technology (ART) has been widely adopted on college campuses. This type of instructional technology, also referred to as ''audience feedback,'' or ''clicker'' technology, as well as by a variety of brand names (e.g., the Classroom Performance System) has become especially popular among instructors of large lecture classes. Current ART packages with coordinated hardware and software allow instructors to ask varied types of questions, obtain immediate responses from students via their response devices (''clickers'' or ''remote controls''), and display the pattern of answers in a tabular or graphic format that preserves individual anonymity. Virtually any class size can be accommodated.Proponents of ART have asserted that the technology improves student engagement and learning (Ward 2003). Such claims, coupled with the desire to improve teaching effectiveness, have prompted many college instructors to incorporate ART into their classes, especially for large lectures in which student involvement and learning outcomes can be less than ideal. To date, studies of ART suggest that students do respond favorably to the technology. However, the number of studies is still relatively small. Further, these studies have limitations that recommend caution in generalizing their findings to the undergraduate student in large-lecture classes. Such limitations include studies of atypical students and classes, evaluations conducted after limited use of the technology, and assessment on a limited number of evaluative dimensions (e.g., Rice and Bunz 2006;Fitch 2004;Latessa and Mouw 2005). Thus, it is important that student experiences with ART receive more empirical evaluation.The current study was designed to respond to the limitations of prior research on ART by conducting a multi-dimensional evaluation of the technology by undergraduate students who used it in large lecture university courses over the duration of a semester. Importantly, the study not only provides a ...

A UDIENCE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY (ART) has been widely adopted on college campuses, and prior research indicates that, on average, it receives positive evaluations from students. However, research has not yet examined how characteristics of students as learners influence their responses to ART. The current study examined aptitude for learning, objective learning (i.e., class performance), subjective learning (i.e., self-perceived learning), and conceptualizations of the learning process as influences on students' evaluation of ART. Students who had used ART over the course of a semester in one of three large lecture classes (N = 703) completed surveys assessing their learning characteristics, perceptions of ART influence on their attendance, motivation, and learning, liking for ART, and evaluations of the course and instructor. Controlling for course and instructor evaluations, aptitude and objective learning were weakly but negatively associated with evaluations of ART and subjective learning was positively associated with evaluations of ART. Further, different conceptualizations of learning have distinctive associations with ART evaluations. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for instructors' use of ART.

Today's global job market requires a worker-oriented focus that emphasises individuals' competencies and is steadily phasing out the task-oriented model that once dominated most work environments. Also impacting the world of work is the pressure to eliminate all forms of waste in manufacturing as companies strive to compete on a global scale. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), considered to be the next generation of lean thinking, shows great promise as a means of managing and tracking products through their entire lifecycle, from design through recycling. This paper proposes the creation of a competency model for engineers functioning in a PLM environment.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to identify and measure the perceptions and attitudes of students regarding the classroom performance system (CPS). Design/methodology/approach -The paper reviews a range of recently published (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) works on pedagogy and educational technology. A survey methodology was utilized to measure students' perceptions and attitudes across 16 variables. Findings -The paper provides aggregate results on each of the 16 variables and statistically significant differences between sub-categories. Research limitations/implications -Research was limited to a major US university campus that services a large cross-section of students. Demographic implications and trends are discussed.Practical implications -This study focused on identifying and measuring the perceptions and attitudes of students regarding a radio frequency, wireless audience response system called: CPS. Sixteen research questions and variables were measured in this study regarding students' perceptions and attitudes towards CPS, learning and student-instructor interactions. Overall, the study found that students perceive CPS as having a positive effect on their increase in pre-class preparation and attendance, and on their increase of overall attention and participation during class. A slight majority of students enjoy using CPS and perceive CPS to have a moderately positive effect on their ability to learn and self diagnose how they are performing in class. The implications of this study and recommendations for future research are discussed. Originality/value -This paper is valuable to instructors who wish to reemploy active learning or Socratic Method type activities in the large lecture format classes.

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