February 2002–January 2003
Students often find it intimidating to ask questions in large lectures. Instructors, in turn, often have difficulty identifying students who are struggling to grasp course material concepts. In this project, personal digital assistants (PDAs) were distributed to students to communicate in large lectures and share questions with faculty in real time.
Designed specifically for use within the lecture hall, these PDAs displayed outlines of the day’s lecture, allowing students to enter questions anonymously. Teaching assistants fielded the questions, allowing the instructors to address them at their discretion. Instructors could gauge student understanding by administering mini-quizzes via PDA. Outside of the lecture, students were able to use their devices to find study group partners and view updated exam schedules. The special-use PDAs provided a powerful example of how devices can serve to build stronger connections between instructors, their course content, and students.
Student Participants: Raj Dandage, Sonia Garg, Sanjay Rao