USING AUDIENCE RESPONSE SYSTEMS TO AMPLIFY STUDENT LEARNING IN POLITICAL SCIENCE: A CASE STUDY OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS TEACHING

Audience response systems (ARS) are now a very widespread technological teaching tool within political science, being used as either an opinion polling or an assessment tool in the classroom. This article presents a case study of an in-class demonstration using an ARS within an electoral systems and voting behaviour module to illustrate how these systems can be used in more innovative pedagogical ways to produce ‘teachable moments’ which facilitate high-level learning outcomes. It argues that political scientists should further emphasise the integration of pedagogical knowledge with technology and content knowledge to embed ARS technology within a more transformative learning process in order to amplify students’ understanding of political science concepts and aid the progression of learning.