Embedding Student Clickers in an Introductory Management Information Systems Course

The challenges associated with teaching a core introductory management information systems (MIS) course are well known (large class sizes serving a majority of non-MIS majors, sustaining student interests, encouraging class participation, etc.). This study offers a mechanism towards managing and (hopefully) overcoming these challenges through the use of a simple and effective teaching innovation referred to as classroom response systems (a.k.a., clickers). Although clickers are not necessarily new (they have been around for some time), recent enhancements, such as radio-frequency technology and integration with other presentation software, have made them easier to manage, with greater reliability and flexibility. This paper presents a case study of the implementation and integration of clickers into an introductory MIS course. The system benefits, lessons learned and effective practices of integrating the technology in a large lecture format are provided