Do Clicker Questions Aid in Concept Learning in an Entry-level Oceanography Course? Is There a Dosage Effect?

Research across a wide range of disciplines has demonstrated learning advantages to using a classroom response system like “clickers”. This study is designed to test if the use of clicker questions aids in concept learning in an entry-level oceanography course (Ocean 101) and if there is a dosage effect. We hypothesize that increased student exposure to a varying cognitive level of clicker questions will enhance student learning and performance on multiple-choice assessments. Course concepts will be divided into four units with an exam at the end of each unit. Clicker questions will be used in lecture for two of the units. During the other two units, students will be given quantitative, multi-step problems to solve on note cards. At the end of each unit, an exam will be administered. The exams will be a combination of multiple-choice questions, comparable to clicker questions, and short answer questions, comparable to the notecard problems completed in lecture. The final exam will be cumulative and assess concept learning from across all units. Student data will be collected and analyzed this fall quarter to assess the relationship between exposure to clicker questions, performance on multiple-choice exam questions, and final course grades. Study design, preliminary results and recommendations for future studies will be presented.