Effect of clickers versus online homework on students' long-term retention of general chemistry course material

Abstract

This study reports the effects of student response systems (clickers) versus online homework on students' long-term retention of General Chemistry I course material. Long-term content retention was measured by a comprehensive yearlong American Chemical Society (ACS) GC97 exam administered seven months after students had completed the General Chemistry I course. The analysis indicated that while students who used clickers or online homework systems earned a little over 2% higher than the non-clicker, non-online homework (lecture-only) group on ACS GC97 exam average scores, this difference was not statistically significant. Interestingly, the data also revealed that more students were retained both in clicker and online homework classes than lecture-only classes. This work suggests that treatments that enhance student's feedback may increase student retention in the course sequence with no loss in learning.