This grant provides additional NSF support to the faculty developers of the Wireless Interactive Teaching System (WITS). WITS is a relatively new, effective approach to improving the quality of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education for undergraduate students, particularly in the social sciences. WITS is an inexpensive, portable wireless system of handheld computers designed to enable and enhance active learning in economics classes using interactive exercises called "classroom experiments." Within economics, these experiments can be used to illustrate vividly many different important concepts. Decision and outcome data from these exercises are projected on a screen as needed during class and can be posted on a web site for use in answering related homework assignments. Assessment data collected from early applications of WITS in economic principles classes have found its impact to be large (S. Ball, C. Eckel, and C, Rojas, "Technology Improves Learning in Large Principles of Economics Classes: Using Our WITS," American Economics Review, Papers and Proceedings, May 2006). This project is creating more WITS modules in economics, expanding the community of scholars using WITS, and extending the use of WITS to more diverse student groups. (1) The project is creating and testing ten new modules for use in microeconomic theory and economics elective courses, as well as courses in related disciplines such as political science and public policy. It is also creating student and instructor manuals for the previously developed principles exercises and the new exercises. (2) In order to expand the community of scholars, the project team is conducting training sessions for senior graduate students and targeted faculty at the PIs' two very different universities, and assisting new users in developing and implementing interactive exercises in their classes. This training activity is also serving to prepare us for future broad dissemination efforts. (3) Two new sets of tests of the impact of WITS on student learning are being conducted to see whether the large learning gains measured so far generalize across other educational settings. The first is with students in microeconomic theory. The second is with minority and community college students. Intellectual Merit: Earlier research of the impact of the WITS system found that using it to incorporate economics experiments in principles of economics classes improved student performance, especially the performance of students that often struggle the most with the material (women and freshmen). The current expansion of WITS to microeconomic theory and to major's courses is a big step because these courses prepare students to apply theory to real world problems. They are essential elements of an undergraduate economics degree. In preparing to teach these kinds of courses, the flexibility of the WITS system enhances instructors' ability to teach students how to develop and test their own hypotheses, so that students learn economics by doing science. Broader Impacts: Given the results of our initial pilot program, it is particularly important to test the system in environments where students are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, ability levels, and learning styles. Broader impacts of the research also include its expected positive impact on the recruitment of women students into economics, and on building interdisciplinary bridges. The WITS system can be adapted for teaching in other STEM disciplines, thus extending the attraction power and learning gains beyond economics. Additional broader impacts involve building intellectual bridges between economics and other social sciences, as WITS is implemented in other fields.
