Impacts of an Audience Response System on High School Agriscience Applications Courses

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to ascertain the impacts of an audience response system on student achievement. Audience response systems are a group of developing technologies that have been adapted for use in classrooms, as a tool for providing feedback. A group of high school students, enrolled in an agriscience applications course, were examined to discover differences in achievement. Teachers integrated the audience response system into the classroom and students' tests scores were examined comparing the technology-based feedback methods with the verbal and written response-contingent feedback methods. Both student and teacher attitudes were examined to determine perceived impacts of the audience response system.

The results of the study showed a significant increase in student achievement when integrating an audience response system. Some of the impacts of the audience response system, as perceived by students were a more fun classroom environment, an increase in participation, and an enhanced ability to understand the material presented. Impacts of the audience response system, as perceived by the teachers included an improved ability to analyze feedback from students, an increased focus on student learning needs, and spending more time in preparation for each class.

The conclusions drawn from the results of this study show that audience response systems are a promising, developing technology for improving student achievement and positively impacting the classroom environment.