Computer Science
dhkth54
ICOTS10_7D3.pdf
THE USE OF SOCRATIVE IN PROMOTING CLASSROOM ENGAGEMENT: A
QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION
Laura Tirlea1, Samuel Muir1, Minh Huynh1 and Bradley Elphinstone2, 1Department of Statistics, Data Science & Epidemiology, 2Department of Psychological Sciences,
Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology
Statistics anxiety is a common problem among tertiary students and has been found to negatively
link with performance. Using innovative technology applications promotes classroom engagement
and may reduce statistics anxiety. Socrative is a free and user-friendly online response system that
empowers students to answer questions posed by instructors using devices connected to the internet
(e.g., laptop or smartphone). Research investigating the benefits of such technological applications
in classrooms is limited. The present findings form part of a larger cross-sectional study employing
mixed methods to investigate the impact of deploying Socrative within a university environment.
This paper will summarise the qualitative findings and discuss implications and strategies for
improving student engagement. It is expected that student attitudes and levels of engagement
towards statistics will improve when using Socrative in conjunction with the learning activities.
INTRODUCTION
Teaching statistics can be a challenging task brought about by the negative attitude that
many students hold towards the subject. The phenomenon of ‘statistics anxiety’ has been found to
adversely impact the student learning experience (Perepiczka & Becerra, 2011). Teachers tend to
hold traditional classes speaking to large groups of students using PowerPoint slides. However, this
approach has been criticised by researchers and educators alike as it promotes passive learning
which has been found to produce poorer outcomes among students compared to more active
learning approaches (Freeman et al., 2014).
Hence, there is a need for initiatives to be explored to help overcome these issues and
enhance the learning experience of statistics. The integration of technology in the classroom has
opened up new opportunities to enrich the student learning experience by offering a means to
enhance student engagement. However, despite computers and technology becoming an integral
part of delivering education, how best to exploit this potential to enhance student engagement
remains largely unknown.
Teachers employ various technologies such as Student Response Systems (SRSs) in an
attempt to enhance student engagement through active learning (Fies & Marshall, 2006). SRSs are
electronic tools (e.g., Clickers) which enable educators to ask questions during a lecture or tutorial
that can be instantaneously answered by large groups of students. Using such tools during classes
was found can help students to focus and engage more with the learning material. Research has
also shown that university students are receptive to approaches incorporating technological tools
(Trees & Jackson, 2007). Hence, there appears to be a need for universities to incorporate more
technology into their teaching practices to satisfy the needs of today’s students.
Forms of online SRSs are now gaining popularity (Jordan & Mitchell, 2009). One such
platform is Socrative; an interactive, real-time, web-based SRS platform (https://socrative.com).
Socrative enables teachers to create quizzes and other educational exercises that can help guide the
focus of a particular lesson as well as generate discussions with students. The software empowers
teachers to monitor and assess students’ responses and progress in real time by giving them
immediate feedback, and thereby enabling the teacher to adjust the pace or focus of a lesson and
help identify areas that students are finding challenging. One of the key advantages of Socrative is
that it is easy to use and can be accessed across a range of devices, including computers, laptops,
tablets, and smartphones. To use Socrative, teachers need to first register (for free) on the Socrative
website. To access their account, teachers log in using their e-mail address and password. Teachers
are then given access to their own ‘virtual classroom’ with a unique identification code. Teachers
can then prepare questions and create quizzes to be used for upcoming classes.
Socrative appears to be a tool with the potential to help engage students with the material
and enable teachers to gauge their students’ level of understanding. However, there is limited
ICOTS10 (2018) Invited Paper Tirlea, Muir, Elphinstone, Huynh
In M. A. Sorto, A. White, & L. Guyot (Eds.), Looking back, looking forward. Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS10, July, 2018), Kyoto, Japan. Voorburg, The Netherlands: International Statistical Institute. iase-web.org [© 2018 ISI/IASE]
research that has been done investigating the potential benefits of using Socrative and much of the
research that does exist is methodologically flawed – characterised by feasibility studies using
small sample sizes and un-validated measures and no control group (Dervan, 2014; Kaya & Balta,
2016; Wash, 2014). Therefore is not possible to confirm that there is a beneficial effect for using
Socrative. It is important that tools like Socrative are rigorously tested to ensure that they are
having the intended effect and are improving (or at least maintaining) the learning experience for
students. Hence, there is a need for further, more methodologically rigorous research investigating
the benefits of using Socrative in the classroom. The current project was part of larger project that
aimed to determine via quantitative analyses whether using Socrative in undergraduate statistics
classes can enhance student engagement and competence, and/or reduce statistics anxiety.
Qualitative approaches are also very important as they complement the information collected via
quantitative means. The focus of this research was to obtain such qualitative data.
METHOD
The sample was comprised of undergraduate students recruited from an intermediate-level
statistics unit located in Melbourne, Australia. Cluster based sampling methods were utilised to
randomly allocate the five tutorial groups (of approximately n = 15 for each tutorial) into either
treatment or control interventions. All students were required to complete the ethics-approved
intervention activities during their respective tutorials, however participation in the pre-post survey
was completed voluntarily. In total, eighteen valid survey responses were acquired, nine of which
belonged to students allocated to the treatment intervention.
Participants allocated to the control group were presented with a statistical problem at the
start of their tutorial sessions. This problem would relate to content that was previously covered
during an earlier lecture. The students would then work alongside their tutor to complete the
presented problem, discussing any issues that they would encounter along the way.
The treatment intervention would begin with students being presented with an initial
question to solve. However before attempting the problem, they were also asked to use Socrative to
anonymously input their perceived ability in solving said problem. The responses were
instantaneously combined and displayed as a bar chart for the entire class to see (see Figure 1). The
session would then proceed as per the controlled environment, with the students working alongside
the tutor to complete the question. At the end of the session, the participants were asked to
complete the same Socrative question from the start of the tutorial, with the anonymous totals being
displayed for the whole class to compare (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Comparing student’s perceived ability in solving problems (pre-post) using Socrative
Measures and instruments
Participants were asked to complete an online survey at the end of Weeks 3 and 6. This
survey was designed to capture participant levels of academic engagement, perceived competence,
autonomy and statistics anxiety. In conjunction with completing the questionnaires, the student
participants responded to three open ended qualitative items on the follow-up survey. These items
included: 1.What did you enjoy about using Socrative during lectures and tutorials?; 2. What did
you dislike about Socrative?; and 3. If you could change or improve anything about Socrative what
would it be?
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RESULTS
Qualitative Analysis
The qualitative responses were analysed using a six-step inductive thematic analysis
method described by Braun and Clarke (2006). The six steps included: 1) data familiarisation; 2)
initial code generation; 3) theme searching; 4) theme revision; 5) theme definition and naming; and
6) reporting. A number of themes emerged from summarising the qualitative data from each of the
three open-ended questions. Each theme will be discussed in the following sections, with direct
quotes from student responses.
What did you enjoy about using Socrative during lectures and tutorials?
Three major themes emerged from summarising the qualitative data for item 1 via the
thematic analysis: (1) novelty, (2) evaluation of performance and (3) fun.
Novelty. Students expressed that using Socrative provided a unique classroom experience.
A number of sub themes were identified within this domain to explain how Socrative was different
to their traditional classes. For example, a number of students commented that they found the
novelty of Socrative to be interesting:
“It was interesting seeing if I understood the content being discussed”.
Evaluation of Performance. Another important theme that was identified was the concept
of evaluation of performance in comparison with others. Students found it useful to inspect how
others felt about the work. For instance:
“I liked seeing how my feelings about the work compared with other students. I also liked
seeing the results change from the start of the lecture compared to the end because it was
interesting”.
Fun. Many students commented that they enjoyed the use of Socrative because it was more
fun compared to their regular classes. For example:
“It was a fun way the lecturer used to engage with the whole class”
This was good news for educators who might be looking for different ways to engage their
students with statistical activities. Given the importance of making classroom activities more
applicable to the real word, realistic tasks can aid students in seeing the value of learning statistics.
What did you dislike about Socrative?
Two themes emerged from summarising the qualitative data for item 2: (1) time
consuming, and (2) nothing to dislike.
Time consuming. This theme reflects how the time taken to interact via Socrative and to
complete the tasks in general posed to be problematic for the Socrative experience:
“Sometimes it felt like a bit of a waste of time”.
“Felt like time could have been better spent on something else”.
The second quote demonstrates an issue that may plague many classrooms. Students who find an
activity too time consuming may quickly lose interest in the task and their attitudes towards the
subject becomes negative.
None. One third of students commented that there was nothing they disliked about using
Socrative (33.3% of responses) for this item. Given that modern students find browsing and
navigating the web a relatively simple task, it was expected that no major complications would
arise from a program that was browser based.
If you could change or improve anything about Socrative what would it be?
For the third item, students provided suggestions with how Socrative could be improved.
Responses varied from using it as a revision tool to suggestions to change the program into an
online app.
“It would have been nicer if it was in an app”
“Maybe try and turn it into an app rather than using web browser.”
Revision tool. Students recommended that Socrative makes use of questions to be used for
revision of material taught in lectures and tutorials.
“It can be used to quickly review the material learned in previous lessons”.
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“You should definitely use it as a revision tool...perhaps in tutorials. The tutor can ask a
question and then everyone can give in their answers. It will make statistics more fun”.
Use of more specific instructions. Two students indicated that instructions provided could
have been more specific. This indicates some students having trouble with the technology and
students struggling to understand the task.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that integrating Socrative into the statistics course changes the
dynamics of the class and resulted in greater engagement, interaction and fun. These qualitative
data are especially noteworthy given that students were prompted simply to comment on the ‘most
enjoyable’ aspects of Socrative during classes. Students perceived Socrative as having a positive
impact on engagement and interaction in class, and they felt that Socrative facilitated learning. This
enthusiasm and excitement lead to greater engagement and, subsequently, to improved learning.
Taken together, the qualitative data from the current study outline a clear path for future
Socrative-related use in teaching and research on effective use of SRS. Outcomes of current finding
suggest innovative teaching practices should be pursued to continuing to incorporate new
technologies that benefit students and staff. By taking advantage of new educational technology,
teachers can create a more active learning environment that assists students to reach their potential.
The sense of anonymity makes students more willing to express their opinions in class and
participate in subsequent class discussions. In summary, it appears that Socrative may be the tool to
address the old and unsettled question of how to make medium and large lectures more active and
engaging for students.
This experiment had a major limitation in the small sample size. Despite the researcher’s
best efforts to maximise participation (e.g. discussion boards posts, emails, lecture visits), students
overall did not appear interested to participate in the research, and the resulting sample was rather
small. Perhaps future studies should consider focus groups to gather the information as this is
interactive and gives students a chance to voice their opinion on matters important to them.
Overall, the use of web-based SRSs is increasing within tertiary education providers with
practice typically leading research on these tools. This study investigated the use of one such SRS -
Socrative – and found that this tool does appear to have the potential to increase student
engagement in statistics classrooms. Teachers may wish to consider using Socrative as a strategy to
help foster student engagement in classroom settings. However, before this technology can be
widely adopted, further research is needed to confirm the presence and magnitude of the effect of
web-based SRSs on the student learning experience.
REFERENCES
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Dervan, P. (2014). Increasing in-class student engagement using Socrative (an online Student
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Fies, C., & Marshall, J. (2006). Classroom response systems: A review of the literature. Journal of
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Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth,
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