The Impact of Peer Instruction Pedagogy and Clicker Technology On Student Learning and Attitudes Toward Learning in a Large Upper-Division Political Science Course

Abstract

The academic literature on teaching and learning has convincingly demonstrated a strong causal link between students’ active engagement in course content through class discussion and student learning outcomes. A central challenge faculty face in teaching large undergraduate courses (150 students) is providing students with meaningful opportunities for discussion and engagement. This study assesses the impact of Peer Instruction (PI) pedagogy and clicker technology as a means to enhance student participation, learning, and attitudes toward learning in a large upper-division political science course. It finds that Peer Instruction with the use of clickers not only improves student learning outcomes at statistically significant levels, but also positively promotes student engagement in the course, motivation to learn, and attitudes toward learning.