Student Response Systems

Student Response Systems (SRS) or usually called as clickers has been deemed as an important tool for engaging students during classroom interaction (Hwang, Wong, Lam, and Lam, 2015). In an SRS, students answer the teacher’s questions using handheld devices, called clickers or more recently, their own smart phones through the Internet. A number experimental study on the use of traditional response systems has generally reported positive reactions from young learners. For example, the findings on Alexander, Crescini, Juskewitch, Lachman and Pawlina (2009), Fifer (2012), Oigara and Keengwe (2013) and Vana, Silva, Muzyka and Hirani (2011) pointed out that students had favorable perceptions of the practicality of response systems during lessons. In this study, Kahoot application has similar functionalities that can be compared to the traditional clicker. However, instead of using clicker device, students use their own smartphones.
In addition, a study about the perception of Japanese Students towards Socrative, a student response app, has produced positive results (Mork, 2014). Generally, learners have positive perception on the use of student response apps (Wong ; Wong, 2016). In relation on students’ perception on SRS, a survey about the use of response devices among college psychology students was conducted. Data from the survey showed that the majority of learners perceived the usage of clickers improved their understanding of and capability to self-identify various concept areas. All of the students described that using response devices was enjoyable, although only one third of those same students reported that acquiring a clicker was valuable.