Previous studies on the interactive response system (IRS) have generally adopted the lecture
method to facilitate teaching and learning, while few have made efforts to investigate the
learning effects of instructional methods and IRS activities on learning and teaching. The
purpose of the present study was therefore to explore whether the use of the IRS with
two different teaching methods would affect students’ learning performance. A quasiexperimental
design was employed, with the teacher conducting the course using the learner
as leader strategy in the experimental group (E.G.) and the teacher leader strategy in the
control group (C.G.). The experiment was conducted over a period of 15 weeks (a semester),
and questionnaires were administered at the beginning, in the middle and after the experiment
to elicit the learners’ views on the IRS application. The results support previous
research which found that using the IRS improved learners’ engagement and interaction.
They also provide further evidence that the use of the IRS with both teaching strategies
not only had a short-term learning effect but could also be a tool for sustaining students’
learning motivation and self-directed learning for long-term learning purposes. Besides, the
use of the learner as leader strategy contributed to enhancing discussion in groups, especially
for the leading groups. The use of the IRS with the learner as leader strategy benefited those
who acted as leaders in taking the initiative to learn the course content, and also engaged the
students who acted as learners in concentrating on the course because it was their classmates
who were leading.
Relation:
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 33(1), p.35-50
