Saudi undergraduate students’ perceptions of the use of smartphone clicker apps on learning performance

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate how the use of a smartphone clicker app by a group of 390 Saudi Arabian male undergraduate students would impact their learning performance while participating in a computer science class. The smartphone clicker app was used by the students during peer group discussions and to respond to teacher questions. A conceptual framework identified teacher-student and student-student interactions, collaborative learning, and student engagement as three primary practices that could improve student performance when a smartphone clicker app was used. The relationships between these factors were tested empirically by participant completion of a self-administered online survey. This study found the use of a smartphone clicker app promoted increased teacher-student and student-student interactivity, leading to active collaboration learning by students and improved learning performance. No positive relationship was found between the smartphone clicker app use and increased student engagement. These results demonstrated the role of the smartphone clicker app in enhancing the learning experience of the Saudi undergraduate students included in this study, but not the overall student engagement. Further research into how use of a smartphone clicker app in classroom settings might promote student engagement to improve the overall learning performance is needed.

EFL Learners’ Perspectives on the use of Smartphones in Higher Education Settings in Slovakia

“…small screen, small keyboard, limited data storage, limited battery life, etc. ), reluctance to use smartphones for learning, learners' distraction, or teachers' willingness and readiness to employ these devices as educational tools (Aljaloud, et. al., 2019;Ismail, et.…”

Robotic question support system to reduce hesitation for face‐to‐face questions in lectures

“…Previous studies showed decreased hesitation in asking via‐system questions (Shimaya et al, 2020) when using question‐support systems such as Clicker (Aljaloud et al, 2019; Egelandsdal et al, 2019; Lantz & Stawiski, 2014; Mayer et al, 2009) or other more complex input methods (Damanik, 2020; Nitza & Roman, 2016; Scornavacca et al, 2009). Similarly, Twitter (Tang & Hew, 2017) or chat channels (Tuhkala & Kärkkäinen, 2018) were also found to promote online student–lecturer interaction.…”

“…It has been reported that audience response systems such as Clicker promote the active participation of students by providing another means of asking questions or presenting ideas (Aljaloud, Gromik, Kwan, & Billingsley, 2019; Egelandsdal, Ludvigsen, & Ness, 2019; Lantz & Stawiski, 2014; Mayer et al, 2009). A previous study suggested that the anonymity provided by Clicker enhanced student participation during lectures (Freeman, Blayney, & Ginns, 2006).…”

Factors Related to Students’ Perception of Learning During Outdoor Science Lessons in Schools’ Immediate Surroundings

“…Only a few studies in the last few years have focused on students' perceptions of learning in science. We have identified different data collection strategies in this regard, such as interviews (Roberts et al, 2018), reflection forms completed by students (Roberts et al, 2018), questionnaires (Jones, 2017;Sample McMeeking et al, 2016) and Likert-scale items (Aljaloud et al, 2019;Jeong et al, 2016), which seem to be the most promising strategy. For example, to study students' perceptions of learning in a science classroom, Jeong, González-Gómez, & Cañada-Cañada (2016, p. 751) used five-point Likert-scale items (e.g., "The instruction methodology used in this course helped me to understand easily scientific contents"; "The course as a whole was a valuable learning experience"), and in research aiming to understand how a smartphone clicker app can impact learning performance in a computer science class, Aljaloud et al (2019, p. 91) developed an online survey with Likert-scale items to measure students' perceptions of their learning performance (e.g., "Using the smartphone clicker app helped to improve my ability to comprehend the concepts in this module").…”