A Mobile-Based Student Class Response System: Case Study of Three Kenyan Universities

Abstract

University students who learn in large classes face disadvantages such as lack of lecturers’ attention and shyness in asking questions. This situation may cause students to not effectively gain the knowledge taught, or they may be uninterested in the subject, ultimately causing poor performance. These consequences of large classes were validated through a pilot study conducted among 70 students and 5 lecturers at Kenya Methodist University. The ubiquity of mobile phones provides an opportunity to use them to increase student participation in large classes. To design such mobile-based systems, student and teacher participation influences their willingness to use such applications. The prime intent of this study was to design and test the effectiveness of a mobile-based student-response system to support learning and student interactions in large classrooms. The specific objectives are to determine attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral controls in use of mobile-based response systems for in-classroom learning, to determine the requirements for a mobile-based student response system, and to test the effectiveness of a mobile-based student class response system. This study was guided by the theory of planned behavior. Mixed methodology was used to collect data from 3 universities; 1 public university, 1 private university, and 1 university with letter of interim authority. The universities were selected first using cluster sampling to identify private and public universities, and then in each of these categories, the specific institutions were selected using convenience sampling. In each selected institution the respondents were deans, heads of departments, lecturers and students. Deans and heads of departments were selected using purposive sampling, while the teachers and students were selected using simple random sampling. Surveys, questionnaires and experimental methods were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Pre-testing of research instruments was conducted at Kenya Methodist University, main campus, which was selected using simple random sampling. The experimental method involved the testing of a prototype designed by the researcher among students and teachers at the 3 universities, to measure the effectiveness of a student- response system. SPSS was used to analyze data using descriptive statistics, and text analysis was used for qualitative data. Then data was then summarized and presented in tabulated form by using totals, frequencies, graphs, charts, percentages, and narrations. The findings are used to develop a mobile based SRS that supports active classroom participation by enhancing students to ask questions, take quizzes, participate in virtual group discussions and participate in polls while giving the lecturer immediate feedback, hence improving in-classroom dynamics.