Investigating the Effects of Group Response Systems on Student Satisfaction, Learning, and Engagement in Accounting Education

Abstract

We examine group response systems (GRS) as an educational tool. We use an experimental approach and student survey data to assess vendors' claims that GRS improve student engagement and feedback, and thus improve learning. A key part of our design involves controlling for effects of moving to a more interactive pedagogy that have been found to affect learning. For a management accounting course, we find only limited GRS learning effects, as proxied by exam performance. Contrary to our expectations, we find a decline in engagement, as proxied by student oral participation, when GRS are used. We also find little evidence that GRS lead to greater student satisfaction with the course. We do find support for student satisfaction with GRS, from which we infer that implementation problems are not driving our results. In summary, we find little support for vendor claims, when controlling for changes in pedagogy.

Measuring clicker impact on student perceptions of course and instructor

“…Morse et al (2010) reported that students perceive that clicker use improved class discussion and made it more comfortable for students to participate in class. However, observation in the study supported previous findings by Carnaghan and Webb (2007) that indicated that students in clicker classes ask fewer questions and become more reliant on non-verbal communication.…”

“…Fitch (2004) and Beekes (2006) both found that students liked using clickers and found them to be a good active learning tool. Carnaghan and Webb (2007) indicated that students reported that the use of response systems technology improved their performance in class. In a four-year longitudinal study, Anderson and Noland (2010) found that remote response devices enable students to improve their knowledge and retain key concepts.…”

Using Clickers in a Large Business Class

“…Hu et al, 2006) have found that engagement of students using clickers has a direct impact on their individual performance. There are studies that have either found no impact (e.g., Morling, McAuliffe, Cohen, & DiLorenzo, 2008) or negative impact (e.g., Carnaghan & Webb, 2007) of clickers use on students' engagement. Our experience also suggests that students who engage themselves constructively in the class using clickers are able to learn the lecture content better than those who do not bring it or use it during the class.…”

Cultivating ICT students’ interpersonal soft skills in online learning environments using traditional active learning techniques.

“…The use of technology can be beneficial to learning in groups and teams (Carnaghan & Webb, 2007;Clark & Gibb, 2006;Dineen, 2005;Hutchinson, 2007;Shrivastava, 1999;Williams, Duray, & Venkateshwar, 2006). In 1999, Shrivastava introduced the concepts of online learning communities to understand how university education can be organised to incorporate emerging digital and broadcasting technologies for classroom instruction and distance learning.…”