The Impact of In-Class Mobile Learning on Students’ Engagement and Performance.

The work presented in this paper is related to the use of mobile learning to improve students’ engagement and performance. It is part of the Student Success Project at the University of Kent. The project aims to reduce the attainment gap of various cohorts of students and enhance their academic performance. Initially, mobile learning was designed to target less well performing students in specific modules. Later on, it was noted that all students could benefit from incorporating in-class mobile learning during the delivery of a module. This paper presents the analysis and results obtained by applying mobile learning techniques in a stage-2 (second year undergraduate) computer science module entitled Software Engineering Process. Mobile learning has been used in various contexts in higher education and it has been suggested that effective learning can take place when students work collaboratively in class using mobile applications. This paper presents the experience of incorporating one particular mobile application named “Kahoot!” to engage students in a non-traditional question-and-answer learning mode. As we will see, students feel that this format is more dynamic and interactive than traditional lecturing methods. In fact, students effectively reflect on what they have learned during lecturers and classes while answering well-constructed Kahoot! tests. Initially, tailored weekly sessions were delivered to support students in applying the concepts learned during the past few weeks of study. In these sessions, the focus is to practice concepts learned in specific lectures with problem-solving, and engage students in a collaborative learning environment that promises higher levels of interaction. The outcome of Kahoot!-infused sessions is studied by analysing students’ feedback in relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy. In addition, students’ performance in the assignments and examination of the targeted module have been recorded, analysed and contrasted with other cohorts. These initial findings show promising results, which encourage us to share the experience with other teaching staff to include using the tool in the delivery of their modules.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]