Technology in Support of Good Pedagogy : Electronic Response Systems and Peer Instruction in an Economics Classroom

College instructors and students participated in a pilot project at The University of Akron to enhance student learning through the use of a common teaching pedagogy, peer instruction. Peer instruction is a teaching pedagogy which can be used to engage students through activities that require each student to apply the core concepts being presented and then to explain these concepts to their fellow students. The teaching pedagogy was supported by the use of technology, an electronic response system, which recorded student responses. We report our experiences in using this technology enhanced teaching pedagogy and provide another example of an active and collaborative learning tool that instructors can use to move beyond chalk and talk. Preliminary results from student and instructor surveys are also reported