STUDENT USE & ATTITUDES ABOUT TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM: DOES IT ENHANCE LEARNING?

Todays rapid changes in computer technology, and greater student access to that techology, poses unique challenges for college professors and students alike. How do you keep your students interested and engaged in learning course content during your lectures, and yet away from distracting techology (e.g., texting, emailing, online shopping) during class time? At the same time, how can students harness computer tools to enhance their learning, enrich their learning/studying experiences, and improve their grades?

In this study we examined whether student access to PowerPoint lectures posted to Blackboard (Bb) in undergraduate Psychology courses enhanced learning as measured by final course grades and student self assessment. There were 136 students divided into ‘Low’ and ‘High’ technology access groups based on a median split of total ‘hits’ to Bb content. ‘High’ access students scored significantly (~6-10 points) higher each semester and overall (p<=.05). Therefore we found that students who accessed the lecture materials electronically performed better in the course, than students who engaged only in traditional ‘classroom learning’.

We will further examine the dataset to contrast ‘High’ versus ‘Low’ Tegrity-access groups. Tegrity is a recording system by which course lectures (audio and powerpoint presentations) are recorded and later posted online for students to access outside of class for review purposes.

Upon completion of the course, we also asked students to complete 5-point rating scales (0=not-at-all to 4=significantly) on 8 course aspects; reading the textbook, attending class lectures, access to PowerPoint lectures on Bb, online Bb Quizzes, Tegrity-recordings of lectures, audio-visual material use in and out of the classroom, and use of publisher online content. Students rated how much they considered each of these course aspects ‘contributed to their learning’, ‘improved their grades’, or ‘enhanced their enjoyment of learning’. We found that course lectures, online Bb quizzes, and audio-video content received the highest student ratings, whereas text and publisher content the lowest. Students appeared to be reading less and were more attracted to learning through interactive, audio-visual materials.