2018 Volume 34 Issue 2 Pages 25-32
Abstract The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan promotes activities to improve the quality of undergraduate education. One possible means of doing this is active learning. Osaka Dental University has been using a clicker response system since 2016.
This study was conducted in 137 second-year students in the school year of 2016. This system enables interactive study in the class. We carried out a confirmation examination using a clicker twice in the same year : immediately after the first learning (period A) and six months after the learning (period B). We then compared the test results between periods A and B and examined each knowledge retention rate.
We were able to make an instantaneous assessment of students’ level of understanding by using the clicker system. Real-time feedback was effective for increasing students’ retention of knowledge. Especially, the feedback appeared to be helpful for learning when a correct answer rate was low in period A. However, the questions that many students answered correctly in period A tended to have a low retention rate of knowledge in period B. This finding suggests that immediate feedback is important not only for questions for which the correct answer rate was low but also for questions for which the rate was high in period A. Since it is possible to confirm the comprehension of the whole class in real time and give feedback every time, it is considered that classes using the clicker system are useful for improving the knowledge retention rate.
