Large Classroom Interactions: Evaluating How Clickers can
Create a Seminar Experience for 300 Students
Craig Leonard Brians, Victoria Dounoucos & Carley Frye
Department of Political Science, Virginia Tech
Abstract: In recent years, technology has gained a firm foothold in higher education classrooms.
The student response system (i.e., clickers) is among the most common teaching technologies
incorporated into classrooms today (Immerwahr 2009; Winograd & Cheesman 2007). These
personal devices permit students to contribute their individual opinions and quiz responses in realtime during class. Given clickers’ growing popularity over the last decade, particularly among
those teaching large enrollment courses, dozens of studies in fields ranging from biology to
physics to political science have sought to evaluate clickers’ effects on learning (e.g., Beavers
2010; El-Rady 2006; Salemi 2008; Stuart, Brown, & Draper 2004; Winograd and Cheesman
2007). Previous research generally falls into one of three categories: (1) examples of pedagogical
techniques, (2) user perception studies, and (3) quasi-experimental tests of knowledge change.
Nearly every study identifies benefits from incorporating clickers into the classroom; however, the
causal link between “clicking” and these claimed benefits is left unexamined. To fill this void,
this paper explicitly studies competing hypotheses, each seeking to explain learning gains from
clicker use. Studying this relationship in large classes (e.g., several hundred students), we find
that clickers improve students’ performance through a number of mechanisms: (1) enhanced preclass preparation, (2) more consistent class attendance, (3) increased classroom participation and
attention, (4) the opportunity to practice timed testing, (5) signaling high-priority course content,
and (6) “on the fly” formative assessment of student knowledge. These processes appear to
operate simultaneously and interactively, although in different intensities for different students.
Literature Review
In recent years, technology has gained a firm foothold in higher education classrooms. The student response system
(i.e., clickers) is among the most common teaching technologies incorporated into classrooms today (Immerwahr
2009; Winograd & Cheesman 2007). These personal devices permit students to contribute their individual opinions
and quiz responses in real-time during class. Given clickers’ growing popularity over the last decade, particularly
among those teaching large enrollment courses, dozens of studies in fields ranging from biology to physics to
political science have sought to evaluate clickers’ effects on learning (e.g., Beavers 2010; El-Rady 2006; Salemi
2008; Stuart, Brown, & Draper 2004; Winograd and Cheesman 2007). Previous research generally falls into one of
three categories: (1) examples of pedagogical techniques, (2) user perception studies, and (3) quasi-experimental
tests of knowledge change. Nearly every study identifies benefits from incorporating clickers into the classroom;
however, the causal link between “clicking” and these claimed benefits is left unexamined.
Methodology
To address the causal mechanism void in the literature, this paper explicitly studies several competing hypotheses,
each seeking to explain exam score improvement (or even learning gains) from clicker use. Exploring this
relationship in large classes (i.e., 80 to 300 students), this study empirically examines these potential mechanisms
using a range of data: quantitative and qualitative student surveys, experimentally comparing (individual-level) inclass clicker question performance to exam question performance, and focus group responses.
Results
We find that clickers improve students’ performance through several mechanisms: (1) enhanced pre-class
preparation, (2) more consistent class attendance, (3) increased classroom participation and attention, (4)
opportunity to practice timed testing, and (5) signaling high-priority course content. Additionally, these processes
appear to operate simultaneously and interactively, although with different intensities for different students,
depending upon a student’s initial motivation level.
Table 1: Clicker Quizzes Build Exam Confidence
Do the clicker quizzes help you feel more confident when
taking exams in this course?
Yes
93%
(262)
No
7%
(19)
Total
100%
(281)
Table 2: Clicker Quizzes Aid Studying
Have the in-class clicker quizzes helped you to study in this
class?
Yes
96%
(273)
No
4%
(10)
Total
100%
(283)
Discussion
Broadly, we find that most students in a course using clickers (1) place greater value on attendance and therefore
retain more knowledge to use on exams, (2) are more likely to look at the readings before class, and (3) demonstrate
greater course satisfaction. Using clickers also appears to reduce student distractions in a large lecture course, due
to the need to pay attention to frequent, interactive questioning.
References
Beavers, Staci L. 2010. “Some Days, Things Just ‘Click’ in the Classroom: Clicker Technology in the Introductory
US Politics Classroom.” Presented at the Annual meetings of the Western Political Science Association
El-Rady, J. 2006. “To Click or Not to Click: That’s the Question.” Innovate Journal of Online Education 2(4).
Immerwahr, J. 2009. “Engaging the ‘Thumb Generation’ with Clickers.” Teaching Philosophya32(3): 233-245.
Stuart, S.A.J., M.I. Brown, and S.W. Draper. 2004. “Using an Electronic Voting System in Logic Lectures: One
Practitioner’s Application.” Journal of Computer Assisted Learning.
Winograd, G.R., and E.A. Cheesman. 2007. “Using Classroom Response Systems in Communication Courses.” In L
W. Hugenberg, S.P. Morreale, D.W. Worley, B. Hugenbergand C. Worley (Eds.), Basic communication
course best practices: A training manual for instructors (pp. 177-193). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.