In recent years, an increasing amount of evidence has been presented regarding the effectiveness of active learning.  Implementation of active learning pedagogical approaches does not guarantee success for all students.  Personal response devices (or clickers) have been used in a wide range of courses for many years as a way to increase student engagement.  In some of the courses (general chemistry for science and engineering majors) clicker use is voluntary.  In the rest of the courses (general chemistry for majors, environmental chemistry and everyday chemistry) clicker use is part of a participation grade.  For each of these courses student performance in the course was compared as a function of clicker use.  Students in each course were grouped into two categories, according to the percentage of clicker questions answered over the course of the term.  For each course, students who answered a higher percentage of clicker questions scored higher on a variety of different course components, e.g., in-term exam scores, final exam scores, homework grades and final course grades.  This difference was observed in all courses, regardless of whether or not the clicker questions were part of the course grade.  There was no difference in clicker use as a function of sex, suggesting that both male and female students were equally likely to take advantage of this technique.<br/>

Correlation between clicker use and student performance

2019 Spring National Meeting

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