Examining gender differences in attitudes toward interactive classroom communications systems (ICCS)

An interactive classroom communication system (ICCS) involves the use of remote devices that permit all students in a class to respond to multiple choice questions displayed on a LCD projector. After responses are clicked in, the results are instantly aggregated and displayed in chart form. The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in attitudes toward ICCSs for 659 secondary school students. The initial results suggested that male students had significantly more positive attitudes than female students with respect to student involvement, assessment, and perceived learning. However, a number of these differences disappeared when computer comfort level and type of use were added as covariates. Male students still perceived that ICCSs improved the overall learning process more than female students regardless of computer comfort level or type of use.