From Expectation to Actual Perception after Experience: A Longitudinal Study of the Perceptions of Student Response Systems

Interactive student response systems (SRSs) are becoming popular as many instructors at the tertiary level education institutions adopt the systems to transform traditional passive lectures into interactive classes. Despite the popularity and numerous benefits of SRSs, there is conflicting evidence regarding the current levels of perceptions and actual performances before and after use the systems. We believe the inconsistent result stems from the differences between the level of expectation and the level of actual perceptions after they use the systems. Students’ beliefs and attitudes are key perceptions toward the information technology (i.e., SRSs) usage. However, these perceptions may change over time as they gain direct experience with the technology. In this study, therefore, we test students’ expectations and perceptions of the technology and provide a comparative result from a longitudinal perspective. More specifically, in this study, we examine students’ perceptional differences in terms of well-known technology acceptance constructs such as perceived usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, and intention to use the systems before and after they actually use the systems. The results confirm that there are differences between the levels of expectations and actually perceptions of cognitive beliefs across three-stage of experience. However, there are no differences of students’ perceptions between initial usage and second-time usage. In other words, the very first direct experience of students will become a salient determinant of their perception of cognitive beliefs and behavioral intention, but the second experience does not provide the same level of impact as much the first one does. We believe that the result of the study will provide solid understanding of the gap between the levels of expectations and actual perceptions of a technology before and after usage, which will explain the inconsistent results related to the SRSs. Limitations and future directions are discussed.