Summary

This paper describes the research and development activities in educational technology which preceded the installation of the new Advanced Technology Classrooms at the IBM Corporate Management Development Center. Specifically, the application of interactive student response units is presented along with the educational benefits derived. The impact of this interactive capability on the design and development of courses is described in terms of goals, question categories and potential for improving instructional design methods. Finally, traditional and interactive classroom environments are compared based on students ’ reactions and retention scores. Background During the past three years, the Corporate Management Development Center (MDC) located at IBM Corporate Headquarters in Armonk, New York has served as a test-bed in experimenting with the new concepts for bringing technology into the industrial classroom. The culmination of these efforts resulted in the development of the Advanced Technology Classrooms which are being used b