IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/che/chepap/v20y2008i1p4-12.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Clickers, Student Engagement and Performance in an Introductory Economics Course: a Cautionary Tale

Author

Listed:
  • Marianne Johnson

    (University of Wisconsin Oshkosh)

  • Denise Robson

    (University of Wisconsin Oshkosh)

Abstract

We examine whether clickers affect learning in an introductory economics course when introduced on a limited 'quizzing' basis in a traditional lecture course. Based on early and end of semester surveys, we assess whether clickers are associated with changes in student course performance or changes in student engagement. Using an education production function that controls for student GPA, etc., we find no significant differences between the clicker and nonclicker sections in student attitudes toward attendance, participation or class engagement, nor do we find any difference in exam performance. We conclude instructors should be cautious patching new technologies into traditional lecture courses, and universities cautious in mandating technology use.

Suggested Citation

  • Marianne Johnson & Denise Robson, 2008. "Clickers, Student Engagement and Performance in an Introductory Economics Course: a Cautionary Tale," Computers in Higher Education Economics Review, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 20(1), pages 4-12.
    • Handle: RePEc:che:chepap:v:20:y:2008:i:1:p:4-12
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/cheer/ch20/johnson.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric A. Hanushek, 1979. "Conceptual and Empirical Issues in the Estimation of Educational Production Functions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 14(3), pages 351-388.
    2. William B. Walstad & Denise Robson, 1997. "Differential Item Functioning and Male-Female Differences on Multiple-Choice Tests in Economics," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 155-171, June.
    3. Naser-Nick Manochehr, 2006. "The Influence of Learning Styles on Learners in E-Learning Environments: An Empirical Study," Computers in Higher Education Economics Review, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 18(1), pages 10-14.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Johnson, Marianne & Meder, Martin E., 2024. "Twenty-three years of teaching economics with technology," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    2. Martha L. Olney, 2016. "Explaining "In the Aggregate" Concepts with Clickers," Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics Teaching, vol. 1(2), pages 71-90, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tahir Andrabi & Jishnu Das & Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Tristan Zajonc, 2011. "Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 29-54, July.
    2. Corak, Miles & Lauzon, Darren, 2009. "Differences in the distribution of high school achievement: The role of class-size and time-in-term," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 189-198, April.
    3. Stephen Hickson, 2016. "Maybe the Boys Just Like Economics More - The Gender Gap and the Role of Personality Type in Economics Education," Working Papers in Economics 16/07, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    4. Lea Cassar & Mira Fischer & Vanessa Valero, 2022. "Keep Calm and Carry On: Immediate-vs. Six-Month Effects of Mindfulness Training on Academic Performance," CESifo Working Paper Series 10099, CESifo.
    5. Jacob M. Markman & Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain & Steven G. Rivkin, 2003. "Does peer ability affect student achievement?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(5), pages 527-544.
    6. Bratti, Massimiliano, 2002. "Does the choice of university matter?: a study of the differences across UK universities in life sciences students' degree performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 431-443, October.
    7. Timothy G. Conley & Nirav Mehta & Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd Stinebrickner, 2024. "Social Interactions, Mechanisms, and Equilibrium: Evidence from a Model of Study Time and Academic Achievement," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(3), pages 824-866.
    8. Stacy, Brian, 2014. "Ranking Teachers when Teacher Value-Added is Heterogeneous Across Students," EconStor Preprints 104743, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    9. Simona Ferraro & Tommaso Agasisti & Francesco Porcelli & Mara Soncin, 2021. "Local governments’ efficiency and educational results: empirical evidence from Italian primary schools," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(35), pages 4017-4039, July.
    10. Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain & Steven G. Rivkin & Daniel M. O'Brien, 2005. "The Market for Teacher Quality," Discussion Papers 04-025, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    11. Polina Bugakova & Ilya Prakhov, 2020. "Regional Accessibility Of Higher Education In Russia," HSE Working papers WP BRP 58/EDU/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    12. Brewer, Dominic J., 1996. "Does more school district administration lower educational productivity? Some evidence on the "Administrative Blob" in New York public schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 111-124, April.
    13. David Brasington & Don Haurin, 2005. "Capitalization of Parent, School, and Peer Group Components of School Quality into House Price," Departmental Working Papers 2005-04, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    14. Gregory A. Gilpin & Anton Bekkerman, 2012. "Cost-effective hiring in US high schools: estimating optimal teacher quantity and quality decisions," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(14), pages 1421-1424, September.
    15. Eric A. Hanushek & Victor Lavy & Kohtaro Hitomi, 2008. "Do Students Care about School Quality? Determinants of Dropout Behavior in Developing Countries," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 69-105.
    16. Josselin Thuilliez, 2007. "Malaria and Primary Education: A Cross-Country Analysis on Primary Repetition and Completion Rates," Post-Print halshs-00144666, HAL.
    17. Rose, Heather, 2006. "Do gains in test scores explain labor market outcomes?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 430-446, August.
    18. Jerik Hanushek & Dennis Kimko, 2006. "Schooling, Labor-force Quality, and the Growth of Nations," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 1, pages 154-193.
    19. Steven Dieterle & Cassandra M. Guarino & Mark D. Reckase & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2015. "How do Principals Assign Students to Teachers? Finding Evidence in Administrative Data and the Implications for Value Added," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 32-58, January.
    20. Bulman, George & Fairlie, Robert W, 2015. "Technology and Education: Computers, Software, and the Internet," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt5265z87t, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:che:chepap:v:20:y:2008:i:1:p:4-12. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Martin Poulter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/cheer .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.