A RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON

IMPLEMENTATION OF PLICKERS CARD AND FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TO

MEASURE STUDENTS PERFORMANCE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Over the past few decades, the usage of information and communication technologies (ICT) has

grown significantly. Its use has also had an influence on how higher education (HE) delivers

instruction, and it has the ability to assist teaching and learning in a variety of ways (Wrenn &

Wrenn, 2009). Therefore, a technology that can be smoothly incorporated into teaching and

learning is required. The outcomes of their classes are closely monitored by lecturers in today's

teaching and learning environment (Chng & Gurvitch, 2018). The methods they employ in the

classroom are the responsibility of the teachers. We are in a time of resource diversification,

innovation, and methodological change in the field of education (Parra-González et al., 2021).

Technology use has become fundamental, and educators are crucial to how it is implemented in

the educational process of pupils. Teachers must be well-trained and proficient in the techniques

they wish to utilize in order to use methodologies that call for the use of cutting-edge instruments

in the transfer of information (Parra González et al., 2021). Since 2013, UNESCO has stressed

the necessity of using mobile devices in education and teacher preparation in order to foster the

development of the skills advised for the 21st century (UNESCO, 2013). Its utilization gives

educators the chance to learn new things and get beyond use obstacles (Junior, 2020). But does

utilizing educational software (ES) that is cutting-edge and capable of assisting teachers in the

creation of similar content indicate real improvements in students' behavior and learning? In this

paper, we examine how SE Plickers are used. Thomas et al. (2016) examined the link between

academic success, student engagement, and creativity when using the Plickers program and came

to the conclusion that its use enhances the caliber of students' knowledge. Gurisik and Demirkan

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(2019) also looked into the use of Plickers in classes and concluded that students consider it

pleasant, verifying a positive contribution to the class, it allows immediate feedback of correct

and incorrect answers, which leads students to correct then your mistakes. Demirkan et al. (2017)

explored teachers’ opinions about Plickers and concluded that its use saves time, increases

general participation, competition, increases students’ attention and motivation.

Plickers are a student response that uses online software system which can be characterized as a

low-technology tool (Chng & Gurvitch, 2018; McClure & McAndrews, 2016). It is a tool for

collecting real time assessment data that saves time for marking. According to Kent (2019a), it

can also stimulate active learning and focus the attention of the student. Additionally, it promotes

active learning as it allows students to participate during class. Subsequently, it promotes

learning and does not obstruct learning. It simply requires the facilitator to login into plickers

website (www.plickers.com), use the camera enabled smartphone to access the plickers

application, and each student to have the printed plickers card. It facilitates the asking of

questions and provides feedback during the lecture (McClure & McAndrews, 2016; Wood,

Brown, & Grayson, 2017). It can also be utilized for monitoring daily progress and attendance

(Krause, O'Neil, & Dauenhauer, 2017). The results are stored in the database for a lecturer to

view them later if they need to (Lowe, Macy, & Stone, 2019).

Plickers has the same instructional effectiveness as traditional or mobile SRSs (Elmahdi et al.,

2018). In instructional scenarios, Plickers is often used for facilitating student learning process

through a class formative assessment (Mshayisa, 2020). The learning benefits regarding Plickers

use identified in the previous related research often fall into two categories: students’ positive

learning attitudes (or perceptions) and students’ increased learning outcomes.

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In Hassan and Hashim’s (2021) study, Plickers was adopted for supporting student vocabulary

learning. The findings indicated that Plickers had a positive impact on students’ perceptions. As

for learning outcomes, in Shana and Al Baki’s (2020) experimental study, Plickers enabled

students to greatly enhance learning outcomes, and contributed a positive impact for student

learning. However, an extensive review of related research revealed that few studies with an

experimental approach had examined Plickers use on students’ learning performances. For this

reason, the current study attempted to Investigate Implementation of plickers card and formative

assessment to measure students’ performance.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The place of formative assessment practices in the assessment of students’ learning outcomes

cannot be overemphasized. Through formative assessment, teachers understand what needs to be

changed during classroom instruction to enhance learning by the students (Nyberg & Olander,

2015). Black and Wiliam (2018) opined that formative assessment usage results in the

understanding of the learning outcomes to enhance the transfer of learning to a similar situation.

In Nigeria, proper assessment of students’ learning outcomes has become the concern of

stakeholders in education owing to the reported cases of the poor performance of students. A

possible solution to this ugly situation is the integration of IT tools into formative assessment

practices. According to Black and William (2009), formative assessment (FA) helps the teacher

to understand the progress in the students' achievement to make adequate arrangements for

further learning. Effective use of formative assessment has resulted in enhanced student

achievement in various educational contexts (Shirley & Irving, 2015). Researchers have

advocated for concurrent use of both FA and summative assessment (SA) (Bernholt et al., 2013).

According to Wiliam (2000), summative assessment is targeted at finding out what an individual

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has learned while formative assessment is prospective. The main distinction between formative

and summative assessments lies in how assessment information are utilised. Thus, an assessment

is said to be formative when a student or learner understands and acts on particular assessment

information (Wiliam, 2000). From the foregoing, FA practice enables teachers to use learners’

previous experiences to the teaching needs of each learner. Different research studies have

highlighted fundamental elements of effective FA practices:

(1) For FA to be an integral part of teaching, it must be properly planned and systematically

practiced (Looney, 2010; Swan, 2005), being in line with basic knowledge and skills (Herman et

al. 2005);

(2) There should be adequate clarification of learning objectives and criteria for success (Black

& William, 2009) and students’ process of learning and progress toward set objectives should be

a top priority (Looney, 2010);

(3) Achieving effective classroom interactions should be the major target of the teachers (Black

& William, 2009), encouraging classroom culture that brings about enhanced interaction and

active participation of the learners (Looney, 2010);

(4) Encouraging self and peer-assessment (Black & William, 2009) and

(5) Providing adequate and timely feedback to monitor learners’ progress (Herman et al. 2005),

enabling the learners to understand their areas of strength and weakness through feedback

mechanism (Looney, 2010; Swan, 2005; Black & William, 2009).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

The below research question are develop for this study;

i. What are the possible changes plickers card can bring to academics among Olabisi

Onabanjo University Students?

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 ii. To what extent will plickers card be of benefit for both students and lecturers?

iii. What are the possible challenges facing the use of plickers card in Nigeria educational

system

iv. What are the necessary things to put in place before the use of plickers card method in

Nigeria educational system?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The term research methodology is used within the context of this research study, to describe all

activities involved in the collection of all necessary data and information required for the work,

such as types of study, data gathering instruments, validation of the instrument, reliability of the

instrument, population of the study, sample of the study, sampling procedure, method of data

collection, method of data analysis, analytical technique. The research methodology

administered for this research is the quantitative method which implies the use of questionnaire,

frequency table and the use of pie chart.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Formative assessment is the major area of interest within classrooms that “provides teachers and

pupils with continuous, real-time information that informs and supports instruction” (Ramsey &

Duffy, 2016). The crucial need to modify teaching and learning to collect evidence for the

purpose of improving pupil learning demanded formative assessment to be considered as a

central part of classroom learning. This is to the assist formative assessment extends in leading

pupils during the class time in understanding skills and concepts; in addition to making decisions

about moving forward to achieve the course learning objectives. On the other hand, formative

assessment yielded significant learning gains with the affordable wireless 21st-century

technology that are designed to enhance pupils’ learning. Altun (2015) stated that ICT is a

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powerful tool to teach, to motivate, and to make the subjects more interesting. It has made a great

contribution to the language learning process and it has a significant impact on our education

system. This has changed how teachers teach and assess, and the pupils learning. Classes are

more interactive and become more pupil-centered.

Ramsey and Duffy (2016) identified two major advantages: a) supporting individualized

learning, and b) opening up time in lecture courses for interactive sessions. Moreover, interest

emerged in the integration of affordable tech-tools used by teachers when they use formative

assessment in the classroom, e.g., Clickers, Plickers, Kahoot digital quizzes, and Socrative.

Students can connect with the technology as the technology occupies an important place within

pupils’ lives. By integrating technology into the classroom, teachers are changing the way they

used to teach (chalk and talk) and providing pupils with the 21st century learning the tools. This

study analyzes the use of Plickers, also known as paper clickers, as one of the CRSs used for

classroom formative assessment. Teachers use Plickers in different specialization around the

world; for example, in courses like algebra (Damick, 2015).

According to Damick (2015), Plickers could be used for different purposes to formally assess

pupils; such as for warm-up or exit tickets. Each pupil has no other option but to participate in

selecting an answer. After seeing the percentage of the class and how each individual pupil

performed on the question, the teacher, uses the live view tab that projects the answers from the

teacher’s digital device to the screen board (Damick, 2015). There is a large volume of published

studies describing the effect of technology-based formative assessment on the teaching and

learning process (Sheill, Lukoff, & Mazur, 2013; Damick, 2015). However, none of the available

studies covered the use of using technology for formative assessment to improve pupils’ learning

at the rural district of Subis and Mukah.

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Mccargo (2017) assessed the usefulness of technology-based answer cards in improving the

academic behavior of students in high school grades. This study suggests that the use of Plickers

improves academic classroom behavior and reduces student destructive behavior in all three

grades. One alternative educational tool that can be used is the Plickers application. Kent (2019)

explain Plickers as a paper clickers that use Quick Response (QR) codes are printed on paper to

be used as paper clicking tools (see Figure 1). Each aspect of the QR code corresponds to one of

four directions for the card (A, B, C, or D), with each card is assigned a unique number and is

available for purchase or can be printed for free from the website.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Plickers is an ES that can provide gamification. It allows the realization of questionnaires and/or

assessments in real time, the use of which requires only a sheet of paper with a card for each

student and a phone/smartphone/tablet with Internet for the teacher to scan the answers given.

The response cards consist of a set of quick response (QR) codes that can be printed, where four

options are indicated (A, B, C, and D) and the student’s number at the top of each orientation.

Students only need to look at the question posed by the teacher and orient their card in order to

display the option they consider correct at the top of the QR code (Chanialidis, 2019). With the

cell phone/smartphone/tablet camera, the teacher takes the readings and collects the students’

responses through QR codes.

At the end point of this research, many people, researchers, students, and institutions will have

something to lean on. The term plickers card is something many students might not be aware of.

However, as a results of this study, several individuals will understand the importance of plickers

card and why the adoption will be of greats helps to learning and teaching.

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SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study is to examine Implementation of plickers card and formative assessment

to measure students’ performance. The study will be limited to Ogun State only, where the study

is being carried out.

ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

Chapter One: The chapter one of this study will entail the background of the study

which is the general view of the study; the statement of the problem, which will pin point the

issues facing the adoption of plickers card in Nigeria educational system. In this chapter

questions will be raised to form the research questions. The research objectives and research

hypothesis for the research work will be disclosed. In addition, the significance of the study will

also be stipulated in this section also, the limit and scope of the study.

Chapter Two: Chapter two deals with the review of relevant literature on research

problems and concept, theoretical framework with specific reference as to how it applies to

plickers card

Chapter Three: Chapter three discusses the research methodology adopted for the study

and relevant justifications such as; journals, text books and media. It outlines the methodology

for carrying out the secondary and primary data collections and how results will be analyzed.

Chapter Four: In this chapter, results obtain from the findings will be presented and

analysed in percentages.

Chapter Five: This chapter presents the conclusions and summary drawn from the

research findings and recommendations.

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