Effectiveness of classroom response systems within an active learning environment.

ABSTRACT

In nursing education, the inclusion of pedagogical tools is necessary to transform Millennial classrooms. One such pedagogical tool currently offered is classroom response systems (CRS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CRS as a pedagogical tool in improving nursing students' examination performance within an active learning environment. A pretest-posttest design was used to determine whether there was a relationship between the use of CRS (independent variable) and nursing students' examination performance in a first-year Professional Practice course (dependent variable). Paired t tests revealed no greater improvement in posttest scores. Therefore, the use of CRS technology was not effective in increasing nursing students' examination scores in the Professional Practice course. Additional research is needed to provide adequate understanding of the effectiveness of CRS within the nursing education classroom.