Clicker technology and course retention: A quantitative study of Maryland community colleges.

摘要

This study investigated the influence engaging technology has on course retention rates in community colleges. The engaging technology used in this study was course response systems, also known as clickers. Four Maryland community colleges participated in the study and the results indicated that there is a difference in course retention rates of courses that use clickers and courses which do not use clickers. Courses that used clickers had a significantly higher course retention rate. The variables of student generation and student gender were also evaluated and found to have no significant influence on course retention rates for courses that use clickers. In this study, both parametric and nonparametric tests were used to evaluate the data. This study provided information on technology's influence on course retention, which was previously absent from the literature.