TECHNOLOGY AND TEACHING Using Student Response Systems (“Clickers”) to Combat Conformity and Shyness

This study addressed how trait levels of classroom shy-ness can influence conformity when students answer opin-ion questions in different ways. We recruited 128 intro-ductory psychology students to indicate their opinion on 50 controversial questions by raising their hand or anony-mously pressing a button on a keypad (“clicker”). Com-pared to hand-raising, keypad responses had greater vari-ability, suggesting that students were less likely to con-form to the group’s opinion. Students who typically ex-perience shame and anxiety in class did not conform any more than other students did, but they felt more uncom-fortable raising their hands and indicated a stronger pref-erence for using keypads when answering controversial questions. Electronic student response systems (SRS) use keypads, or “clickers, ” to efficiently record and display students ’ answers to questions that can be used for concept checks, quizzes, opinion polls, and more (Caldwell, 2007). By pressing a button on a keypad, students anonymously send their response to a receiver attached to a computer that displays a histogram of the students ’ responses. A growing body of literature on the use of SRS proclaims benefits of greater participation and increased emotional engagement during lecture (Stowell & Nelson, 2007), and possible benefits to student learning (Morling, McAuliffe