Professor Richard Mayer Joins the CITS Faculty Steering Committee

CITS is happy to announce that Professor Richard Mayer of the UC Santa Barbara Psychology Department, has recently joined the CITS faculty steering committee. Professor Mayer is a longtime supporter and participant in CITS activities. Currently he serves as a principal investigator on a CITS Technology in Education (TIE) research initiative study funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation titled “Assessing the Pedagogical Implications of Technology in the University Classroom.” Professor Mayer explains that the, "central goal of our TIE research is to determine how infusing technology in college classrooms can enable instructional practices that improve students' learning in large lecture classes for college students. In a set of studies we have obtained promising evidence concerning the use of “clickers” — remote control devices whereby students can vote for an option presented as a multiple choice question on the screen and see the responses for the entire class. For example, in class, students received 2 to 3 questions per lecture and discussed the rationale for the correct answer. These students performed better on the exams than did students who had not received the clicker treatment. Similarly, in a controlled laboratory study, students who received a lecture that involved answering questions using clickers performed better on some exam questions than did students who did not receive the clicker treatment. Research is continuing to pinpoint the conditions under which clickers can aid student learning." CITS is very excited to have Professor Mayer aboard and looks forward to his contribution to future TIE research.