Using Twitter to More Actively Engage Students in the Learning Process

I received an internal grant from the College of Business, University of Nevada-Las Vegas to conduct a Twitter experiment in my large Principles of Microeconomics class (177 students) during the Fall Semester of 2010 and in my large Principles of Macroeconomics class (145 students) during the Spring Semester of 2011. The purpose of the Twitter experiment was to enhance student engagement in the classroom and to improve their grades. The Twitter experiment was made voluntary and students who participated in it received three extra credit points at the end of each semester. The level of student engagement increased substantially with Twitter usage but the effect of Twitter on student grades was mixed.