Download THE EFFECTS OF IMPLEMENTING AN INTERACTIVE STUDENT

were recorded and used in the final grade. Their motivation was that students would be
more apt to read the material if they knew they would be tested on it with keypad
questions, and thus would come to class better prepared.
Although they did not cite specific studies, Burnstein & Lederman found that
using keypad answers in the final grade increased attendance and attentiveness during the
lecture. “We find that when keypad scores count for greater than 15% of the term grade,
there is a dramatic improvement in attendance that reaches the 80-90% level and, in
addition, the students make genuine attempts to prepare for the reading quizzes and
remain alert throughout the lecture period” (p. 10). Furthermore, by asking questions
during the lecture, the instructors were able to ascertain, in real time, if students
recognized and understood concepts and remembered important facts. This enabled the
instructor to repeat or modify topics to increase understanding.
Hake (1998) and what he calls “interactive engagement” are referred to in many
articles on active learning. In his “six-thousand-student survey,” he surveyed pre/post
test data for 62 introductory physics courses (6542 students) at various institutions. He
categorized the courses into either traditional or interactive engagement (IE), which he
defines as follows:
(a) “Interactive Engagement” (IE) methods as those designed at least in
part to promote conceptual understanding through interactive engagement
of students in heads-on (always) and hands-on (usually) activities which
yield immediate feedback through discussion with peers and/or
instructors, all as judged by their literature descriptions.
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