Post on 15-May-2015
description
Using Personal Response Systems ‘Clickers’ for Learning and Teaching
Muireann O’Keeffe, April 2013
Issues with large group teaching
Vision of students today video, Wesch, Kansas state University
What are Clickers?
• Enable lecturers to collect and analyse students’ responses to multiple-choice questions during class
• Teaching with clickers engages students in class• And motivates students to participate during class in meaningful
ways. (Bruff, 2010)
How are clickers used?
When to use Clickers
Summative/ formative assessment
• Pre-class: diagnostics testing to evaluate students prior knowledge and basic knowledge
• Mid-class: Questionnaires to diagnose understanding • Formal assessment: MCQ, exam questions
Other uses of clickers
• Peer Instruction• Attendance• Background Knowledge Probes• Class-Wide Discussion• Exam Review• Formative Assessment• Peer Assessment• Peer Instruction – Eric Mazur• Quizzes• Student-Written Questions• Team-Based Learning
The Peer Instruction Method
In this method,1. The lecturer presents students with multiple choice question that is
carefully constructed to engage student difficulties with fundamental concepts.
2. The students consider the problem on their own and contribute their answers in a way that the fraction of the class giving each answer can be determined and reported.
3. Students then discuss the issue with their peers for two minutes and vote again.
4. The issues are resolved with a class discussion and clarifications.(Eric Mazur, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard)
Think, Pair Share using Clickers
• The lecturer presents students with a multiple choice question• Student work in groups or pairs discussing the questions • The group answers the question using a shared clickers device
Benefits to large groups
• Anonymity• Feedback • Peer learning • Results generates discussion • Quizzes can be contribute towards summative assessment
Lessons learned at DIT
The Lecturer’s Perspective• Students more engaged and attentive throughout the lecture.• Results of clicker questions provide information on student
understanding • They provide assurance that students know the basics before moving
on to advanced material.• Using clickers to guide students through longer exam style questions
is useful as you can establish if students can cope with the concepts within a long question
• However, it can be difficult to set a pace that suited a mixed ability environment.
• Use of clickers does not guarantee exam success.
Lessons learned at DIT
• The Students Perspective
I feel like I learn something in every class
primarily due to the clickers
They were very good as it allowed me to assess my ability in
relation to the rest of the class.
I like when we use the clickers
because we put the theory into practice
I also think it gave people who don’t understand a
chance to have the answer explained again, without
having to feel singled out by asking a question in class, if
they felt shy.
Great way to get you thinking. It
would be great if the exam could be
done this way.
I really enjoyed using the clickers in class, as
I have never done accounting before I
found them very useful for helping solve
problems
Other feedback from DIT
• Means to facilitate feedback to lecturer and student• Useful for revision purposes • clickers introduce a playful atmosphere • Clickers ensured students participation • Great for teaching threshold competencies
(DIT clickers Blog http://ditclickers.wordpress.com/)
Lessons Learned elsewhere
• Encouraged active learning, participation and interaction among students in large group
• Enabled feedback • Faculty need to make pedagogical decisions regarding clickers use
(Patterson et al, 2010)
Clickers encouraged active learning Comparison of student performance over 2 years in MCQs indicated no learning advantage of is using clickers over traditional lectures.(Duggan et al, 2007)
More information: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/docs/classroom-response-system-clickers-bibliography/
Resources & references
• Derek Bruff – clickers blog http://derekbruff.org/?page_id=2• Duggan et al (2007) BMC Medical Education, retrieved from http://
www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6920-7-25.pdf • Medical Science Educator: http://
www.iamse.org/artman/publish/article_466.shtml • NYU School of Medicine: http://
dei.med.nyu.edu/blog/clickersintheclassroom-featuringpodcastinterviewswithnyuschoolofmedicinefacultyandstaff
• Patterson et al (2010)Nurse Education Today, retrieved from http://cs.ru.ac.za/research/g09b0279/UsefulPapers/Evidence%20for%20teaching%20practice%20The%20impact%20of%20clickers%20in%20a%20large.pdf
• Vanderbilt university: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/docs/classroom-response-system-clickers-bibliography/