Effects of response card use on student participation and academic achievement in an elementary classroom

Abstract

This study compared the effectiveness of hand raising with the use of response cards in a sixth-grade general education classroom during whole-group social studies instruction. Dependent variables included the frequency of active student responding during instruction and student performance on both weekly quizzes and maintenance tests. Participants included 14 sixth-grade general education students (6 boys and 8 girls), ranging in ages from 11 to 12. An ABAB design was utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of the experimental condition. Participants were exposed to the hand raising condition during weeks 1 and 3 and the response card condition during weeks 2 and 4. During the hand raising condition, the teacher used a traditional lecture approach that entailed asking questions and requesting students to answer on an individual basis by raising their hands. In the response card condition, students were asked questions in the same manner as in the hand raising condition; however, all students were asked to respond by writing answers on their response cards and holding them up. Results indicated that the use of response cards was effective in increasing the frequency of active student responding during instruction and improving student performance on both weekly quizzes and maintenance tests administered three weeks later.

Date of Award	2006
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Linda Leal (Supervisor)