Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 11 Summer 2019 | Page 50

Article #3 Web-based student response systems and peer instruction: a review and case study Abstract Web-based student response systems and peer instruction: a review and case study Cooperative learning and peer instruction are well documented pedagogies that engage students in their learning process. The means to implement cooperative learning in the classroom have evolved from raised hands, colored flashcards, student response systems or “clickers”, to web-based audience response systems that work on any electronic device. This paper briefly reviews available audience response systems and presents a case study on Learning Catalytics, a system designed to enable peer instruction and implement just-in-time teaching pedagogy. Author: C.Cervato DOI: doi.org/10.21252/ 41wc-kt98 Context Contact: [email protected] Liberal arts education is the foundation of Western education, and advocates for a curriculum that includes the study of arts and humanities, social sciences, mathematics, and natural sciences. Deeply rooted in the educational system in Europe, liberal arts education is at the foundation of higher education in the United States. This means that a student pursuing a four-year Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree will earn between one third to one half of the credits required to graduate through general education courses in each of the four liberal arts components. The remainder of the credits will be focused on the major discipline in which they are earning their degree, and ancillary courses required for the major (chemistry, physics, mathematics, English). Keywords Peer instruction, student response systems, Learning Catalytics™ These general education requirements are usually fulfilled by attending introductory level courses in a range of disciplines, from sociology to psychology, from American Indian studies to women studies, and from biology to astronomy, where the vast majority of students are not pursuing a degree in the discipline of the course. As a result, the challenge for the instructor is to engage these students in a content in which they might have little interest. At large public universities with enrollment in the tens of thousands, these general education courses have often enrollments of hundred or even thousand students, ranging from first-year students directly out of high-school, non-traditional students returning to college after working or a career in the military, to graduating seniors. Extensive research shows that active learning techniques are more effective at engaging students and increasing learning, particularly non-science majors in science courses (PCAST, 2012; Prince, 50