Improving Learning via Tablet-PC-based In-Class Assessment

This paper describes research being carried out to support in-class assessment in large classes. The goal of the Classroom Learning Partner (CLP) is to increase instructor-student interaction and student learning by aggregating student digital ink answers and presenting results and representative answers to an instructor. The studies reported in this paper are the first phase of the research: They evaluates the use of Tablet PCs and a Tablet-PC-based classroom presentation system in an introductory computer science class. The presentation system, Classroom Presenter [1], supports student wireless submission of digital ink answers to in-class exercises. In this study, we evaluate the hypothesis that the use of such a system increases student learning by: (1) increasing student focus and attentiveness in class, (2) providing immediate feedback to both students and instructor about student misunderstandings, (3) enabling the instructor to adjust course material in real-time based upon student answers to in-class exercises, (4) increasing student satisfaction. The studies evaluate each of the above four parameters by means of classroom observation, surveys, and interviews; the second study compares results with a control class in which Tablet PCs were not used