The effects of using an interactive whiteboard on the academic achievement of university students

This study focused on the effects of interactive whiteboard use on university students’ academic achievement in the topic of electricity in the science and technology laboratory class. No significant difference was found between academic achievement scores of experimental students who were engaged in both interactive whiteboards and laboratory practices and those of control students, who only underwent laboratory practices. Despite the lack of a significant difference, the experimental group students had higher academic achievement scores. At the same time, the partially lower posttest standard deviation values in the experimental group may result from the role of interactive whiteboard in increasing homogeneity in the classroom.

Even though interactive whiteboard use might not increase students’ academic achievement significantly, it was seen that it encouraged student participation in the lesson, created a more exciting and enthusiastic atmosphere, and led to more enjoyable lessons. These findings overlap with the benefits mentioned by other studies (Becta, 2003; Wall et al, 2005; Cuthell, 2003; Smith et al, 2005; Camnalbur and Özdener, 2008). In addition, many students in the experimental group stated that interactive simulations and virtual experiments involved situations that they did not normally encounter in real experiments and this enabled them to visualize the topic. Similar findings have been reached by other researchers, (Perkins et al., 2004; Wieman and Perkins 2006; Perkins et al., 2006; McKagan, Handley, Perkins and Wieman, 2009).

From a general perspective, the results of the study are similar to those encountered in the literature. It was also found during the study that lessons conducted with interactive whiteboards were more fun, had more on-task time and greater participation. The most significant evidence for the academic improvement resulting from interactive whiteboard use was a comprehensive study conducted by Becta (2003). In this study, the term ‘improvement’ was used instead of reference to ‘increasing academic achievement’.

Based on these results, it can be claimed that an interactive whiteboard should not be seen as a tool that increases academic achievement, but one that brings information and communication technologies to the classroom and leads to new teaching and learning activities (Beauchamp and Perkinson, 2005).