CommuniCubes: Intermediate Technology for Interaction with Student Groups

Abstract

This chapter describes an innovation supporting interaction between a teacher, and a student group. It argues that there are five modes of engagement for students in groups. The mode of group interaction with a teacher can benefit from mediation by a voting, or response, technology. An exploratory pilot study of a novel, nonelectronic technology to support this mode is described. CommuniCubes enable every student in a group to vote individually on options presented to them. They were used by a large group in a stepped, lecture theatre, and by smaller groups in seminar rooms. The evaluation found the overall student response to be positive. The reasons students gave for CommuniCubes being both helpful and unhelpful to their learning are summarized. The costs and benefits of this technology and electronic voting devices are compared, and the issues for further research are discussed.