Research report: Beyond engagement: Interactive response systems, student attitudes, and technology acceptance in University EFL classrooms

University students using an interactive response system showed greater improvement across eight measures of classroom attitudes than students receiving traditional English-as-a-foreign-language instruction, according to a quasi-experimental study of 102 undergraduates at a Chinese university. The measures covered the learning atmosphere, participation, attention, confidence, interaction with the teacher, interaction with peers, learning support, and learning achievement and satisfaction. The participants were enrolled in two intact classes with 51 students each.

One class received instruction incorporating the Unipus platform, while the other received traditional instruction without integration of the interactive response system. Researchers administered pre-test and post-test attitude surveys and used mixed-design analysis of variance to compare changes between the groups. Significant group-by-time interactions occurred in all eight dimensions, indicating greater attitudinal improvement among students in the interactive-response class.

Follow-up post-test comparisons also found significantly more positive attitudes in that group, with medium to large effect sizes. The researchers separately investigated students’ acceptance of the technology through regression analysis. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use significantly predicted attitudes toward the interactive response system, whereas prior technological experience did not.

The full regression model explained 40.2% of the variance in attitudes toward the system. This value applies to the model as reported and should not be attributed solely to the two significant predictors. The findings associate students’ judgments of usefulness and ease of use with more favorable attitudes toward the technology.

Overall, the study supports the possibility that interactive response systems can provide additional pedagogical support when integrated into university EFL lesson design. Its scope is limited, however: the quasi-experiment involved only two intact classes at one university, and students were not reported to have been randomly assigned. Results based on intact classes may therefore reflect group differences or classroom conditions as well as the technology.

The study assessed student attitudes rather than directly measuring improvements in English-language proficiency. Within those constraints, the analysis identifies perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as significant statistical predictors of students’ attitudes toward interactive response systems.

Subject of Research: Effects of interactive response systems on university EFL classroom attitudes and technology acceptance

Article Title: Beyond engagement: Interactive response systems, student attitudes, and technology acceptance in University EFL classrooms

Article References: Song, G., Halili, S. H., & Zainuddin, Z. (2026). Beyond engagement: Interactive response systems, student attitudes, and technology acceptance in University EFL classrooms. PLOS One, 21(10), e0360411. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360411

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0360411

Keywords: interactive response systems, English as a foreign language, university students, classroom attitudes, technology acceptance, perceived usefulness, ease of use, quasi-experiment, Unipus, China, Beyond, engagement