Changing the nature of lectures using a personal response system

Abstract

This article describes the use of an Electronic Voting System (EVS) in large group lectures within a business and management undergraduate degree programme, in an attempt to make them more interactive. The intention was to ensure that the introduction of the EVS‐style lecture was educationally driven, linked to interactive learning activities in the lecture, and reflected a clearly articulated understanding of the kind of learning that was appropriate for these students. Findings are presented and discussed in terms of the impact on students' learning and on the role of the lecturer. Our conclusions show that the students' experience of the EVS interactive lectures fell into three distinct stages and that students fall into one of three types, based on their general relationship to EVS‐based lectures. In addition, EVS‐style lectures impacted significantly on the role of lecturers. Finally, the findings demonstrate that interactive lectures that are supported by technology, but that are driven by educational ends, can enhance students' learning.

Keywords:

• Electronic Voting Systems
• interactive lectures
• constructivism, social constructivism

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