The influence of learning characteristics on evaluation of audience response technology

AUDIENCE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY (ART) has been widely adopted on college campuses, and prior research indicates that, on average, it receives positive evaluations from students. However, research has not yet examined how characteristics of students as learners influence their responses to ART. The current study examined aptitude for learning, objective learning (i.e., class performance), subjective learning (i.e., self-perceived learning), and conceptualizations of the learning process as influences on students' evaluation of ART. Students who had used ART over the course of a semester in one of three large lecture classes (N=703) completed surveys assessing their learning characteristics, perceptions of ART influence on their attendance, motivation, and learning, liking for ART, and evaluations of the course and instructor. Controlling for course and instructor evaluations, aptitude and objective learning were weakly but negatively associated with evaluations of ART and subjective learning was positively associated with evaluations of ART. Further, different conceptualizations of learning have distinctive associations with ART evaluations. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for instructors' use of ART.