Dr. Kuldeep Rawat has been the Principal Investigator for a 2007 HP Technology for Teaching grant at Elizabeth City State University (North Carolina, USA). Their goals was to enhance student learning by increasing the "interactivity" of courses such as Engineering Technology, Circuits, and Analog Electronics. The results were impressive - and well documented by Dr. Rawat...

What I found particularly interesting were the following findings:

• The distribution of student grades shifted in a very positive direction (chart is from the Analog Electronics class, with and without the classroom interaction through tablet pcs). With a shift like this, you'd have a hard time arguing that the students in the non treatment group were remarkably less capable.

• Participation increased, too (though he reports that anonymity was less important to many students - apparently they are not shy to ask questions!)

• ...and not surprisingly, students self-report that the experience was much improved and students felt more organized (which makes me wonder to what extent the "undergraduate mayhem factor" affects student performance in general)

And of course there's nothing like hearing from the students directly:

Congratulations, Dr. Rawat! Thank you for sharing your experience with us...