Group Response Technology in Lecture-Based Instruction: Exploring Student Engagement and Instructor Perceptions

Technology has been touted as an effective method to improve teaching and learning; yet, few researchers have examined the use of technology in traditional lecture-based instruction to improve student engagement or provide feedback about student learning to the instructor. The exploratory study described in this article examined the use of group response technology (GRT) to gather student responses during instruction in a preservice special education course. Classroom observation data indicated no differences in engagement between preservice teachers who used GRT and those who used hand-written journals; however, the use of GRT provided the instructor with real-time data about student learning. These data challenged the instructor's conceptions of lecture-based instruction, causing increased attention to and heightened knowledge of student learning, which, in turn, resulted in changes in instructional practices. The potential of GRT use for increasing the effectiveness of instruction in higher education and modeling effective instructional practices for teacher preparation are discussed.