Use of clickers to improve student engagement in learning: Observations from the built environment discipline

Student engagement and active learning have been identified as key areas for learning enhancement as students tend to understand and retain teaching material better and enjoy lectures when they are actively engaged. This would improve retention and progression of students and could lead to improved levels of academic success. Designing learning activities to improve student engagement has been considered by many universities. This article evaluates the use of 'Clickers' (a remote voting system) as a mechanism to improve student engagement within the Built Environment discipline. Focus group discussions and questionnaire surveys with students, interviews with staff members and personal observations were used to collect data. A positive correlation between student engagement and Clicker sessions was evident. Anonymously responding to questions, collaborative learning, and self-evaluation of performance have been able to improve student engagement for Clicker sessions. Effective feedback discussions based on the Clicker questions, knowledge sharing with peers, and reflecting more on the subject content have influenced deep learning among students, and hence, improved learning. The originality of this research stems from the fact that Clickers could be more useful for the Built Environment discipline, as its outward looking teaching and learning approach appropriately matches with that of Clickers technology.