Amanda Wells

Honors in Chemistry

Major: Chemistry

Supervisor: Charles Ward, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Use of Student Response Systems to Increase Student Performance on Introductory Chemistry Questions

Large lecture classrooms are often viewed by students as impersonal environments with little or no interaction with the professor and peers. Research has been reported on the use of Electronic student response systems (SR systems) or “clickers” in many large scale classrooms that have enhanced the student’s active participation in the course. Taking on a more active role in the classroom and increasing collaboration with the professor and peers tends to produce a positive effect on student learning. SR systems have been shown to enhance this interaction by allowing the students to actively participate and give feedback to the professor before being tested on the material. This study was designed to examine the effects an SR system has on student performance with three different question types: 1) rote, 2) algorithmic, and 3) conceptual on quizzes and exams. The subjects in this study were 70 second semester introductory chemistry students enrolled in three different laboratory sections. Two of the laboratory sections were given the use of an SR system and served as the treatment groups, while the third laboratory section did not utilize an SR system and served as the control group. Data for this study were collected from student responses to the types of questions that were discussed in laboratory. The data was pulled both from brief quizzes given in laboratory and hour-long examinations given in lecture. These data were analyzed using ANCOVA and post hoc t-tests to examine the research hypotheses. Results indicate that there is no significant impact by the use of the clickers on students’ responses to the three question types on quizzes or exams.