JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2015 BizEd 61
Making Learning 'Click'
PROFESSORS WHO USE CLICKERS in class to assess student un-
derstanding will see students' learning improve, according to
William Hedgcock of the University of Iowa's Tippie School
of Business in Iowa City and Rob Rouwenhorst of St. Ambrose
University in Davenport, Iowa. The pair found that students
who use clickers learn more, enjoy class more, are more likely to
read the textbook, and receive better grades than students who
don't. Handheld clickers allow users to submit answers to true-
false or multiple-choice questions and give professors opportu-
nities to assess student understanding in real time—and quickly
identify and address areas where students are struggling.
During recent fall and summer terms, University of Iowa
faculty used clickers in 84 classes. That included Hedgcock,
who used them in two sections of his consumer behavior
course. For example, in part of one semester, he used the devic-
es to ask students questions and give quizzes on course content;
in another part, he used them only to take attendance.
Hedgcock and Rouwenhorst found that when clickers were
used to assess learning, students' test scores increased by
one-third of a letter grade (for example, a B would improve to a
B+). Students also expressed more confidence with the mate-
rial, because they could better assess their comprehension and
increase their study time when needed.
Hedgcock and Rouwenhorst have published a study on their
findings, "Clicking Their Way to Success: Using Student Response
Systems as a Tool for Feedback." It appears in the Fall 2014 issue
of The Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education. The paper
also is available at www.biz.uiowa.edu/faculty/whedgcock/
Hedgcock_Clicking_14.pdf.
