Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology 10 th April 2014. Vol. 62 No.1 © 2005 - 2014 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved . ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195 45 AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION ON THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE USE OF AUDIENCE RESPONSE SYSTEM MANTIKAYAN JONATHAN 1 , ABDULLAH LILI 1 , AYU MEDIA 2 , ADAMU ABUBAKAR 1 , ABDULGANI MONTADZAH 1 1 Department of Information Systems, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 Universitas Siswa Bangsa International, Jl. MT Haryono Kav 58-60, Jakarta Selatan 12780 E-mail: jmantikayan@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Majority of the earlier studies regarding the use of audience response systems have been devoted to higher educational level, with less attention given to secondary or high school level, and there is a dearth of research done on secondary education. To address the gap in the research literature, a study using quantitative survey has been used to explore and document the secondary students’ result outcomes on using the Audience Response System (ARS) vis-à-vis the traditional method, and to further explore if utilizing an ARS affects student performance outcome. In the end, the research examines the impact of ARS on student active learning, performance outcome and the task-technology fit of ARS in secondary level education. The major finding from this study shows that ARS add to a pre-existing active learning in secondary level education as well as the student’s performance. Above all, the task-technology fit affects the implementation of this system as regards the learning style of secondary school level. Keywords: Audience Response System, Active learning, Performances Outcomes Task, Technology-fit 1. INTRODUCTION Studies by other researchers on ARS indicate that it is not adequate to conduct ARS for its own sake and use it without an organized structure, citing that technology is only secondary while effective teaching is of paramount consideration [1]. As the ARS is simply a tool for improving interactivity in teaching methodology, the core of ARS is geared towards active teaching rather than technology, lest ARS will lead into a passive engagement between teacher and student. Judson and Sawada [2] emphasize thus: ‘Interactivity means far more than a lecture hall full of students pressing buttons in response to questions. A highly interactive classroom implies students are interacting with several ideas and several individuals all at once” (p.36). Martyn [3] and Rodriguez [1] suggest that an ideal situation in understanding ARS is to provide students various opportunities to practice with ARS in low-key activities and opinion-based surveys to evaluate student understanding or conduct assessments, before they are used for more advanced questions. Since ARS fit requires the necessary training to use the system, it is considered that training and preparation for ARS are important in order to use the technology productively. The use of the ARS as information tool is considered critical in this research. As a result this research attempts to explore its effect on secondary school students since previous researches concentrate more on higher institution of learning. The study uses quantitative survey research approach and obtained its reliable sample respondents from Malaysia and Philippines. However, the multicultural nature of the respondents (Malaysians and Filipinos) and the identical survey questions handed to the respondents may impact on their pedagogical approaches, and may become biased in favor of one nationality over the other. As it is, the format of the questionnaire and the questions themselves do not pose any culture mismatch as the questions merely state the objective set-up of individual opinions on such factors as reactions on the use of ARS which do not present a challenge on cultural sensitivities. As the form and tenor of questions may reflect bias, Skinner pointed out (as cited by [1]) that the creation of questions should be directed towards “what it is that we want the students to understand, what thinking skills we want them to use, and what beliefs we want to emphasize”. Moreover, researchers [3-5] recommended questions that stimulate “metacognition” that enables students to think with a critical mind and to reflect on their lessons, which guide for better understanding of the material. ARS is considered to facilitate metacognitive questioning when students' responses are preceded and followed by discussions