The purpose of this study was to examine the role of anonymity in encouraging college students to be more cognitively engaged in lectures. Kinesiology majors from three universities were asked to respond to questions during two consecutive lectures using response methods of opposing degrees of anonymity, one using ‘clickers’ and the other using hand‐raising. Participation and comprehension rates were statistically significantly different following the use of the different response methods (*p = 0.000 and *p < 0.001, respectively). Participant survey responses revealed insight into student perceptions regarding the role of anonymity in encouraging their cognitive engagement during each of the lectures. From participant comments, four major dimensions emerged suggesting the anonymity of using clickers (a) increased participation; (b) influenced cognitive engagement; (c) allowed for normative comparisons and (d) allowed for more processing time.