Examining gender differences in attitudes toward interactive classroom communications systems (ICCS)

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Abstract

An interactive classroom communication system (ICCS) involves the use of remote devices that permit all students in a class to respond to multiple choice questions displayed on a LCD projector. After responses are clicked in, the results are instantly aggregated and displayed in chart form. The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in attitudes toward ICCSs for 659 secondary school students. The initial results suggested that male students had significantly more positive attitudes than female students with respect to student involvement, assessment, and perceived learning. However, a number of these differences disappeared when computer comfort level and type of use were added as covariates. Male students still perceived that ICCSs improved the overall learning process more than female students regardless of computer comfort level or type of use.

Section snippets

Overview

An interactive classroom communication systems (ICCS), also known as an audience response system (Caldwell, 2007) or clickers (Bergtrom, 2006), allows students to respond to multiple choice questions using a remote control device. After students click in their responses, the results are automatically collected and displayed in chart form, usually a histogram. Responses are often anonymous but can be linked to specific students for evaluation purposes. The principal advantage of using an ICCS is

Students

The student sample consisted of 659 students (327 males, 327 females, 5 missing data), enroled in grades 9 (n = 71), 10 (n = 233), 11 (n = 149), and 12 (n = 206). Subject areas where ICCSs were used included business, computer technology, social science, science, and math. Eighty-seven percent (n = 572) of the students claimed that they were comfortable or very comfortable with technology. Sample population data was collected from 23 different classrooms. The students were selected through convenience

Procedure

Teachers were emailed by an educational coordinator and informed of the ICCS study. Participation was voluntary and a subject could withdraw from the study at any time. Each teacher received a two half days of training in November and February on how to use the ICCS software and possible strategies for using an ICCS in the classroom. They were then asked to use an ICCS in their classrooms, although how often the ICCS was used was up to the individual teachers. In pairs, teachers from each high

Survey results

With respect to total ICCS attitude score, male secondary school students (M = 46.1, SD = 9.5) had significantly more positive attitudes towards ICCSs than female secondary school students (M = 42.5, SD = 10.4) (t = 44.93, df = 615, p < 001). The effect size of 0.36 is considered to be in the medium range by Cohen (1988). Since overall attitudes toward ICCSs were significantly different, a MANOVA was run to compare male and female students on each of the nine Likert-scale survey items examining attitudes

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in attitudes toward ICCSs in the context of computer comfort level and type of ICCS use.

Summary

The purpose of this study was to explore gender differences in secondary school students’ attitudes toward ICCSs accounting for computer comfort level and type of ICCS use. Three key areas were examined: student involvement, assessment, and perceived learning. A simple comparison showed that male students were significantly more positive than female students in all three categories. However, when both computer comfort level and type of use were added as covariates, most differences in attitudes

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