Clicking Our Way To Class Discussion

Abstract

The goal of this research project is to investigate whether the use of a personal response system (“clickers”) in the classroom increases student participation and discussion and its impact on the quality of the discussion in undergraduate accounting courses. While many studies conducted regarding the use of clickers rely on student surveys to determine the effectiveness of using clickers, this study will add to the literature by providing evidence of actual student behavior as it relates to participation when clicker technology is used in the classroom. Our study includes collecting data on student classroom behavior by observing and measuring the level of participation in both clicker and non-clicker classes. We discuss the observed impact of clickers on class participation and contrast it with prior work on the perceived impact, the use of clicker technology versus a clicker question, and the impact of the clickers on the faculty participating in this project.