Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and measure the perceptions and attitudes of students regarding the classroom performance system (CPS). Design/methodology/approach: The paper reviews a range of recently published (1993-2006) works on pedagogy and educational technology. A survey methodology was utilized to measure students' perceptions and attitudes across 16 variables. Findings: The paper provides aggregate results on each of the 16 variables and statistically significant differences between sub-categories. Research limitations/implications: Research was limited to a major US university campus that services a large cross-section of students. Demographic implications and trends are discussed. Practical implications: This study focused on identifying and measuring the perceptions and attitudes of students regarding a radio frequency, wireless audience response system called: CPS. Sixteen research questions and variables were measured in this study regarding students' perceptions and attitudes towards CPS, learning and student-instructor interactions. Overall, the study found that students perceive CPS as having a positive effect on their increase in pre-class preparation and attendance, and on their increase of overall attention and participation during class. A slight majority of students enjoy using CPS and perceive CPS to have a moderately positive effect on their ability to learn and self diagnose how they are performing in class. The implications of this study and recommendations for future research are discussed. Originality/value: This paper is valuable to instructors who wish to reemploy active learning or Socratic Method type activities in the large lecture format classes.