Effectiveness of a Classroom Response System in a Wisconsin Technical College Mathematics Course

Abstract

The following study is designed to see if a classroom response system (CRS) enhances learning when used to supplement a traditional lecture course. The study compared the overall performance of the students from three different sections of a mathematics course. Two of these sections were the experimental groups which used the CRS as a supplement to the lecture, while the other section was held as the control and only received the traditional lecture. This paper introduces the background of the course and the demographic information of Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC) student body. A review of literature given here looks at the results of other studies and reviews on this topic. The students in the experimental sections received preliminary and post-surveys about their prior knowledge and opinions on the use of CRS. At the beginning and completion of each unit in the experiment the sections were given a test to assess their knowledge of the material covered. When the results were analyzed they showed that there was no significant difference between student performance in the experimental section and the control section.