An Internet-based Audience Response System for the Improvement of Teaching

Abstract

We have developed an Internet-based audience response system (called ARSBO). In this way we combine the advantages of common audience response systems using handheld devices and the easy and cheap access to the Internet. Evaluations of audience response systems in the literature have shown their success: encouraging participation of the students as well as immediate feedback to answers to the whole group for evaluational purposes of the teacher. However, commercial systems are relatively expensive and the number of students in such a teaching-learning scenario is limited. ARSBO solves these problems. Using the Internet (e.g. in computer rooms or by wireless Internet access) there are no special costs and the number of participating students is not limited. ARSBO is very easy to use for students as well as for the construction of new questions with possible answers and for the visualization of statistical results to questions.