Abstract:

Large enrollment, lecture format courses are not conducive to teacher-student interaction, while interaction has been shown to be a key feature of a powerful learning environment (Van den Branden, 2006). A number of studies have already focused on more active ways of learning in large lecture classrooms, most often by researching the impact of student response systems in the design of technology-mediated, interactive teaching practices (Caldwell, 2014; Mayer et al., 2009; Klein and Kientz, 2013). The proliferation, even ubiquity of mobile devices amongst student populations opens up new avenues for stimulating interaction in large enrollment classes. This study wishes to extend the current knowledge base by evaluating the effects of an innovative teaching approach relying on the bring-your-own-device principle (BYOD). It primarily aims to provide an overview of the perceived effects and attitudes of students.

Participants were 185 bachelor students in applied psychology. The intervention contained both a technological and a didactic component: stimulating the bring-your-own-device principle and creating working methods for lecturers to harness the potential of these devices during their lectures. These working methods could be divided into two main groups, according to their respective goals: to increase student involvement during lectures on the one hand and to increase and evaluate student understanding of course content on the other hand.

For this quasi-experimental field study a self-developed questionnaire first asked students about (educational) usage of mobile technology during the lecture, after which a number of multiple choice questions followed on involvement and interaction, processing of course content, and attitude towards the intervention conceptualization. A five-point Likert scale was used for the multiple choice questions, ranging from 1 ‘strongly disagree’ to 5 ‘strongly agree’.
Results showed that students reported perceived effects of increased involvement (M = 3.98, SD = .79, range = 1-5) and interaction (M = 3.67, SD = .71, range 1-5). They furthermore show a general favorable attitude towards using technology in large group lectures (M = 4.28, SD = .53, range = 2-5).

The current study illustrates the potential of utilizing students’ own mobile technology for creating a more stimulating learning environment. It provides preliminary evidence for positive perceived effects and acceptability by students.

References:
[1] Caldwell, J. E. (2007). Clickers in the large classroom: Current research and best-practice tips. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 6(1), 9-20.
[2] Mayer, R. E., Stull, A., De Leeuw, K., Almeroth, K., Bimber, B., Chun, D., ... & Zhang, H. (2009). Clickers in college classrooms: Fostering learning with questioning methods in large lecture classes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34(1), 51-57.
[3] Klein, K., & Kientz, M. (2013). A model for Successful use of Student response Systems. Nursing education perspectives, 34(5), 334-338.
[4] Van den Branden, K. (2006). Task-Based Language Education. From theory to practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.