Ask A REL Response

October 2018

Question

What research has been conducted on "Socrative" (a cloud-based student response system) and student achievement?

Response

Following an established REL Southeast research protocol, we conducted a search for research reports as well as descriptive study articles on "Socrative" (a cloud-based student response system) and student achievement. We focused on identifying resources that specifically addressed the use of "Socrative" (a cloud-based student response system) and student achievement? The sources included ERIC and other federally funded databases and organizations, research institutions, academic research databases, and general Internet search engines (For details, please see the methods section at the end of this memo.)

We have not evaluated the quality of references and the resources provided in this response. We offer them only for your reference. These references are listed in alphabetical order, not necessarily in order of relevance. Also, we searched the references in the response from the most commonly used resources of research, but they are not comprehensive and other relevant references and resources may exist.

Research References

1. Aslan, B., & Seker, H. (2017). Interactive Response Systems (IRS) Socrative application sample. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(1), 167-174. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1120823
   From the abstract: "In globally developing education system, technology has made instructional improved in many ways. One of these improvements is the Interactive Response Systems (IRS) that are applied in classroom activities. Therefore, it is "smart" to focus on interactive response systems in learning environment. This study was conducted aiming to focus on using Socrative application as a feedback agent among IRSs. The study mainly focused on how could Socrative program as a smart feedback agent be effective in fostering students' learning. Additionally, students' responses were examined to have an overall sense of a digitally supported learning period. The study was designed on action research. The research was conducted with 53 junior year students who were prospective teachers in different fields at the same time. In order to obtain, 11 item-survey was developed by the researchers to realize how Socrative program could contribute to reinforce learning in detail. Besides, unsystematic interviews on program's strong and weak aspects were maintained. The results indicated Socrative program as a feedback agent could be benefited in learning process thanks to its accessibility, immediateness, and continuous interaction. The results also revealed that participants of the study perceived the program positively and attended the course more motivated. The study also reflected that students as prospective teachers more eagerly participated in digitally supported than traditionally maintained instructional activities."
2. Badia Valiente, J. D., Olmo Cazevieille, F., & Navarro Jover, J. M. (2016). On-line quizzes to evaluate comprehension and integration skills. Journal of Technology and Science Education, 6(2), 75-90. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1134807
   From the abstract: "This work demonstrates the use of a 2.0 tool, namely, Socrative, to evaluate one of the cross-curricular competences indicated by the Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia, specifically, comprehension and integration. It has been applied to the courses in different areas: sciences, engineering and languages. As part of its implementation, activities were proposed that could be done at the beginning, during or at the end of the class to, on the one hand, help students acquire the knowledge associated with the course(s), and on the other, gather evidence that demonstrates acquisition of said competence. The results show a high level of satisfaction by the students with the use of the Socrative tool as an element to promote active participation and the acquisition of the cross-curricular competence of comprehension and integration; therefore, its extension to other courses has been suggested."
3. Balta, N., Perera-Rodríguez, V-H., & Hervás-Gómez, C. (2018). Using Socrative as an online homework platform to increase students' exam scores. Education and Information Technologies, 23(2), 837-850. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1134807
   From the abstract: "Socrative is an online assessment and student response tool that provides opportunities to increase student engagement in the classroom. We used Socrative as an online homework completing platform to increase students' exam scores in physics. To explore the relationships among factors and the educational effectiveness of Socrative, data from 85 undergraduate students' final and midterm grades, and their responses to an attitude survey were used. The ANCOVA results demonstrated that the use of Socrative positively influenced students' exam scores and a fairly significant correlation was found between students' attitudes toward Socrative and final exam scores. Moreover, the results of the survey showed that students have moderately positive attitudes toward the use of Socrative as an online homework assignment platform. This empirical study indicates that the use of Socrative can go beyond engaging and motivating students and can be used as an online homework completing tool."
4. El Shaban, A. (2017). The use of "Socrative" in ESL classrooms: Towards active learning. Teaching English with Technology, 17(4), 64-77. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1159109
   From the abstract: "The online student response system (SRS) is a technological tool that can be effectively implemented in English language classroom contexts and be used to promote students' active learning. In this qualitative study, "Socrative", a Web 2.0 software, was integrated with active learning activities and used as an SRS to explore English second language learners' (ESL) perceptions of the use of this tool. The results showed that both techniques (SRS and active learning activities) contributed to increasing the students' level of engagement, promoted their critical thinking, and stimulated their collaboration. This current research describes the benefits of SRS in supporting ESL students' active learning."
5. Méndez C. D., & Slisko, J. (2013). Software "Socrative" and smartphones as tools for implementation of basic processes of active physics learning in classroom: an initial feasibility study with prospective teachers. European Journal of Physics Education, 4(2), 17-24. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1052308
   
From the abstract: "Many physics professors have difficulties to know and assess in real time the learning of the students in their courses. Nevertheless, today, with Internet and the new technology devices that the students use every day, like smartphones, such tasks can be carried out relatively easy. The professor pose a few questions in "Socrative," the students answer them by means of the Smartphone. In this way, the professor knows what students learned and can promote the cooperative learning joining students who think differently, with the purpose to give them chance to discuss their answers and argumentations and, eventually, to improve both answers and arguments. In this article, we present the results of an initial feasibility study of using "Socrative" and smartphones carried out with prospective teachers. The effects on the students were: they help them to understand concepts; they facilitate the argumentation and the exchange of opinions. In addition, the use of this technology is, generally, easy for students and turns out to be interesting in the classroom. In conclusion, by using efficiently "Socrative" and students' smartphones, professors might achieve jointly three different goals: real-time assessment of the students' learning, motivation of the students and increased opportunities for active learning."

Methods

Keywords and Search Strings
The following keywords and search strings were used to search the reference databases and other sources:

• Socrative, formative assessment, student achievement
• Socrative, technology uses in education
• Socrative, technology uses in education, audience response systems

Databases and Resources
We searched ERIC for relevant resources. ERIC is a free online library of over 1.6 million citations of education research sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences. Additionally, we searched Google Scholar and PsychInfo.

Reference Search and Selection Criteria

When we were searching and reviewing resources, we considered the following criteria:

• Date of the publication: References and resources published for last 15 years, from 2003 to present, were include in the search and review.
• Search Priorities of Reference Sources: Search priority is given to study reports, briefs, and other documents that are published and/or reviewed by IES and other federal or federally funded organizations, academic databases, including ERIC, EBSCO databases, JSTOR database, PsychInfo, PsychArticle, and Google Scholar.
• Methodology: Following methodological priorities/considerations were given in the review and selection of the references: (a) study types – randomized control trials,, quasi experiments, surveys, descriptive data analyses, literature reviews, policy briefs, etc., generally in this order (b) target population, samples (representativeness of the target population, sample size, volunteered or randomly selected, etc.), study duration, etc. (c) limitations, generalizability of the findings and conclusions, etc.

This memorandum is one in a series of quick-turnaround responses to specific questions posed by educational stakeholders in the Southeast Region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina), which is served by the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast at Florida State University. This memorandum was prepared by REL Southeast under a contract with the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Contract ED-IES-17-C-0011, administered by Florida State University. Its content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IES or the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.