ARS Research - Higher Education

  An extremely complete (50+ references) bibliography of research articles on the effectiveness of classroom response systems (CRSs) is maintained by Derek Bruff, Assistant Director, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching.  TinyURL to this resource: http://tinyurl.com/2ulojz.

General  (Scroll down for By Discipline)

1. Abrahamson, A. Louis, "Teaching with Classroom Communication System - What it Involves and Why it Works" (pdf or html - 20 pages) (MP3 version - 15 MB, in Internet Explorer: right-click and choose Save Target As).  From a Mini-Course presented at the VII Taller Internacional "Nuevas Tendencias en la Ensenanza de la Fisica", Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico, May 27-30, 1999.  Comments: One of the earliest papers on SRSs: "... examines the pedagogical roots of classroom communication systems.
2. Black, Paul and William, Dylan, Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment, 1998, Phi Delta Kappan.   Comments: "Firm evidence shows that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement, Mr. Black and Mr. Wiliam point out. Indeed, they know of no other way of raising standards for which such a strong prima facie case can be made."

    

    

3. Bransford, John, Brown, Ann L, and Cocking, Rodney R., editors, "How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition" (2000).  Comments: Available free online in searchable form here but you'll want to buy this book as well to inform/transform your teaching or your leadership in education.  An extraordinarily well-researched, practical, and inspirational book.  Lots of information about formative assessment & a few pages about Classroom Communication Technologies (see page 219+). 

    

   Dr. Bransford is now a Professor of Education and Psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle.  He is also Principal Investigator and Director of the Center for Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) and is working with others at the UW, Stanford and SRI International in a five-year research center on the science of learning (both funded by the NSF).

4. Guthrie, Rand W. and Carlin, Anna, "Waking the Dead: Using interactive technology to engage passive listeners in the classroom", 2004.  (8 pages)  Comments: Great title and good paper about initial research done on the effectiveness of SRSs in higher education.  These professors were smart - not only did they try CPS to see if it would improve their college courses they also did research on their first experiences with it!  Now we need to see this kind of research replicated and extended at the K-12 level.
5. Penuel, Roschelle, Crawford, Shechtman (SRI) & Abrahamson (Better Education Foundation), "CATAALYST - Workshop Report: Advancing Research on the Transformative Potential of Interactive Pedagogies and Classroom Networks", SRI International (Stanford Research Institute) and Better Education Foundation.  A report from "a conference that [brought] together a diverse group of educators, researchers, and industry representatives to chart a research agenda for the future of classroom networks." (25 pages)
6. Rice, Ronald E. and Bunz, Ulla, "Evaluating a Wireless Course Feedback System: The Role of Demographics, Expertise, Fluency, Competency, and Usage".  (30 pages)
7. Roschelle, Penuelle (SRI) & Abrahamson (Better Education Foundation), "Classroom Response and Communication Systems: Research, Review and Theory", 2004. (8 pages)  Comments: This paper begins with "In How People Learn, Bransford and colleagues (National Research Council, 1999) cite classroom response system technology and the related pedagogy as one of the most promising innovations for transforming classrooms to be more learner-, knowledge-, assessment-, and community-centered."  It goes on to say:  "A review of the research on [Classroom Response Systems]  ... particularly with regard to the popular use of these systems to enhance questioning and feedback"   Dr. John Bransford is now at the University of Washington (after many years at Vanderbilt)
8. Thalheimer, Will, "The Learning Benefits of Questions",  Work-Learning.com, 2003  full 37 page whitepaper ($30).  Comments: An extensive meta-study of questioning as a teaching method, and its impact on student learning and engagement. The full paper provides “both a practical understanding of questioning and a hard-edged research review of the learning benefits of questions.” 
9. University of Tennessee, "Shifting Gears from Research to Adoption: A Pilot Study on the Clicker Personal Response Device", (6 pages), January 31, 2006.  [Reference contributed by Marty Abrahamson]
10. Ward, Darrell, "The Classroom Performance System: The Overwhelming Research Results Supporting This Teacher Tool and Methodology", whitepaper, 2003.  Comments: Dr. Darrell Ward is the creator of the Classroom Performance System and the founder & president of eInstruction.  This paper describes the “CPS-empowered classroom” and the research supporting its use as a tool to empower the teacher and learner.

By Discipline

1. Biology
   1. Paschal, Cynthia B., "Formative Assessment in Physiology Teaching Using a Wireless Classroom Communication System",Advan. Physiol. Edu. 26: 299-308, 2002.  (11 pages)
   2. Woods, H. Arthur and Chiu, Charles, "Wireless Response Technology in College Classrooms", Univ. Texas at Austin, 2002.  (7 pages)  Comments:  The authors describe their use of CPS in college physics and biology courses, and their students’ reactions to the integration of this tool. They documented an increase in attendance after the response system was introduced and provide examples of several questions they posed in class with the feedback on students’ responses that CPS provided.
2. Law
   1. Caron, Paul L. and Gely, Rafael, "Taking Back the Law School Classroom: Using Technology to Foster Active Student Learning" . Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 54, 2004.  Abstract or full paper  (33 pages & 112 footnotes).  Comments: An extraordinarily well researched and written  paper valuable to teachers of all subjects at all levels.  Be sure to read the footnotes by themselves at some point if you need a little humor!
3. Mathematics
   1. Terrell, Maria, "Asking Good Questions in the Mathematics Classroom", (7 pages), Cornell University " (read more about the "Good Questions" project at Cornell in Using Student Response Systems).
4. Physics
   1. Abrahamson, A. Louis, "Teaching with Classroom Communication System - What it Involves and Why it Works" (pdf or html - 20 pages) (MP3 version - 15 MB, in Internet Explorer: right-click and choose Save Target As).  From a Mini-Course presented at the VII Taller Internacional "Nuevas Tendencias en la Ensenanza de la Fisica", Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico, May 27-30, 1999.  Comments: One of the earliest papers on SRSs: "... examines the pedagogical roots of classroom communication systems.
   2. Beatty, Ian, "Transforming Student Learning with Classroom Communication Systems", 2004, U Mass (Amherst) - EDUCAUSE (13 pages). Comments: "This bulletin describes how CCSs can influence "interactive pedagogy" and fundamentally transform the learning process. It includes advice drawn from lessons learned through a decade of experience [in the teaching of physics]."
   3. Hake, Richard R. "Interactive-Engagement vs Traditional Methods: A Six-Thousand-Student Survey of Mechanics Test Data for Introductory Physics Courses" , American Jouurnal of Physics, Vol 66, pps 64-74, 1998.  Comment: One of the earliest papers on SRS use in the classroom.
   4. Liu, Tzu-Chien and Liang, Jen-Kai et al,  "The Features and Potential of Interactive Response System", 2003.  (8 pages)

       

       

   5. Woods, H. Arthur and Chiu, Charles, "Wireless Response Technology in College Classrooms", Univ. Texas at Austin, 2002.  (7 pages)  Comments:  The authors describe their use of CPS in college physics and biology courses, and their students’ reactions to the integration of this tool. They documented an increase in attendance after the response system was introduced and provide examples of several questions they posed in class with the feedback on students’ responses that CPS provided.