Abstract:

This paper will have three purposes. It will present what the Student Response System (SRS) is, it will explain why we use it, and it will show how we use it.

The Student Response System (SRS) is developed by Sør-Trøndelag University College (HiST). The SRS is a system where teachers can ask a whole class quiz type questions to which the students answer using their own handheld or portable devices such as smart phones, iPods, iPads or computers. The SRS is a web based system and therefore any device which can connect to the Internet can be used.

During the last few years HiST has developed the software and extensively used the system on daily basis in teaching students on a pre-course for engineering education. Hence, the process of designing the software for the SRS has to a great extent been in cooperation with trained and experienced teachers teaching a great variety of subjects such as mathematics, physics, social sciences, Norwegian and English language and literary studies.

In the first part of this paper the interface and functionality of the system will be presented and briefly compared to other systems. In the second part a number of reasons to use the SRS actively in teaching will be presented. These reasons will be according to the effects of didactic, pedagogical and psychological nature we find the SRS to have. In the third and last part some of the strategies for using the SRS will be presented and illustrated with different quiz questions from actual teaching.