Abstract:

This paper aims to identify to what extent the interaction between the cooperative learning and the use of Audience Response System (ARS) can foster the theory learning of a subject, specifically, Fundamentals of Marketing, in a Spanish public university. ARS is a method that is being increasingly used in the university education. We have taken a sample of 373 students out of a universe of 392 students from three different degrees: Business Administration; Finance and Accounting and Economics. The theory of the subject was divided into 7 lessons and, at the end of each one, the students, in teams, had to answer a set of test questions regarding the lesson. We collected the average grade obtained by each team with ARS. At the end of the semester, the students were asked to evaluate the contribution of their teammates to the grade obtained by the team. Finally, we obtained the individual grade of each student from the subject exam. The aim of this paper is to know to what extent the grade obtained by the student has been influenced by the use of the ARS in teams, the contribution of the peers with the team and the previous academic record.

This paper is structured in the following way. First, literature a review about advantages and disadvantages of ARS is presented. Secondly, we analyse different outcomes of the use of ARS and define the objective of this study. Following that, details are given about the methodology employed. Results obtained are then outlined and the study ends with the conclusions, limitations and future lines of research.

After analysing the data, the subject learning of the students, measured as the grade obtained in the final exam, depends on his/her starting point, i.e., his/her academic average score before starting the subject, as long as the evaluation obtained from his/her teammates about his/her contribution to the team’s grade. Work made in team has not contributed to a higher level of learning, but only the individual effort of each one of the members of the team, appreciated by the teammates.

Keywords:

Technology, cooperative learning, ARS, achievement, peers evaluation, marketing.