An Experiment with Peer Instruction in Computer Science to Enhance Class Attendance

Class attendance of computer science courses in higher education is typically not overwhelming. Anecdotal reports and the authors’ experiences with a low-resource mode of peer instruction indicated increased class attendance after a lecture with such concept tests. This has been evaluated systematically with a 3-year computer science module using a medium-resource, software-based, Audience Response System (‘clickers’). Results show there is neither a positive nor a negative relation between lectures with peer instruction (PI) and class attendance. The student participation rate in software-based voting decreased and some decline in lecture attendance was observed. Thus, PI itself could not be shown to be a useful strategy to enhance class attendance. Notwithstanding, the students’ evaluation of the use of PI was a moderately positive.