Millennials Perception of Using Clicker to Support an Active Classroom Environment: an Early Adoption Perspective

This paper presents a multi-year study of students’ perception associated with the introduction of a technology tool, personal response systems (colloquially known as clickers), starting from its initial stage to date. The goal is to provide a reflective perspective of this topic that intertwines the instructor’s and students’ views associated with the adoption of this technology tool. The results of the data collected with an inclass clicker survey for six semesters indicated that it took students on average two semesters to significantly shift their perceptions and view clickers as being supportive of activities both inside and outside the classroom. The study indicates that both a well-crafted strategy to introduce innovative technology tools at the organizational level and the instructor’s clear focus on using clickers as a tool to increase and support active learning will reduce students’ resistance to the tool itself at the course level.