VaNTH Engineering Research Center

Using Technology to Enhance Active Learning in the Classroom

This study represents an effort to evaluate the relationship between personal response system (PRS) use and learning outcomes in two different courses, physiology and thermodynamics.

Pazos-Lago, P., Olds, S.A., & Linsenmeier, R.A. (2007). Using technology to enhance active learning in the classroom. Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education, Honolulu.

Using Technology to Enhance Active Learning in the Classroom

Researchers found a positive and significant relationship between PRS response index and course performance for both courses. This supports the main hypothesis that students who use the PRS system more frequently perform better on exams. The variation in PRS use accounted for 13% of the variance in course performance in physiology and about 20% in thermodynamics.

The analysis also suggests that coupling peer discussion with PRS use can enhance students' ability to actively construct knowledge in class.