Using Personal Response Systems to Improve Learning Outcomes in Large Lecture Courses
Investigator:
Beth Ingram
Economics
College of Business
Co-Investigator:
Ken Brown, Management & Organizations
Awarded: $19,350
What do you intend to do?
Several core courses in the College of Business are taught in a large-lecture format. Given this format, the instructor always faces issues in encouraging students to attend lecture and to be attentive once they are there. Our goal is to use the personal response system in two courses in the spring, 6E:071 Statistics for Strategy Problems and 6J:048 Introduction to Management. We envision that the successful use of the technology in these two courses will encourage other lecturers to incorporate their use into other large-lecture courses.
For the statistics class in particular, the issues outlined above loom large: course material builds from lecture to lecture, so missing one class immediately puts a student at a disadvantage; practice in the use of statistical techniques is essential to learning them; students find this class intimidating. Given the parameters under which the statistics class operates, the question is how to bring more interaction into the classroom, to give students opportunities to practice statistical methods prior to being assessed on their understanding of those methods, and to encourage student interest and attentiveness. We believe that using a Personal Response System in 6E:071 is part of the answer to that question.
We will evaluate the effect of the personal response system on student outcomes in two ways. First, I will compare the level of statistical knowledge of students to the level attained by students in previous classes that I ve taught through their performances on exams, homework sets and projects. Second, I will include specific questions on the ACE forms that focus on the use of the PRS units. Finally, I will monitor use of the PRS responses over the course of the semester to gauge whether students are bringing the PRS units to class and whether they are answering the questions that I pose.
How will it improve student learning?
The unit will allow students to answer multiple choice questions, input numerical answers, and respond to more open-ended questions. For example, the technology will allow us to collect quantitative data from students to demonstrate the idea of a sampling distribution. Specifically, students are often confused about what is meant by a sampling distribution, the summary of the differences that exist in statistics calculated from different samples from a population. We could ask different samples of students to input, for example, their high school GPAs and calculate the mean GPA. We could also demonstrate the effect of sample-selection bias, the bias that occurs when samples are not created randomly. Later in the course, as we develop the ideas behind hypothesis testing, the students can participate in real time in conducting hypothesis tests. Finally, the units can be used to collect quick information about areas of confusion for the students.
By incorporating interactive elements during lecture, I expect to improve student attendance and attentiveness. I also expect that I will be able to gauge student understanding in real time, allowing me to adjust the content of lectures to meet students' needs.
What do you need?
We will need to purchase 387 personal response system units and a base unit for the instructor. The units that we wish to use are more sophisticated than the usual five-button clicker unit, incorporating an LCD screen and a numeric keypad. The advantage of this particular unit is outlined in the previous response.
What is your rough estimate of costs?
The funding will be used to purchase 387 personal response units from Quizdom at a cost of $50 per unit, for a total cost of $19350 and a base unit for the instructor at a cost of $500. We will re-use the response system in subsequent semesters and in multiple courses.
