Use of Clickers in class:Effects on Student Attendance

and Performance

Master Teacher Guild

Mike Fennewald, PhD (SGPDS) Daniel Bareither, PhD (SCPM)

Lecia Apantaku, MD (CMS) Roberta Henderson, PT, PhD (CHP)

Fred Sierles, MD (CMS)John Becker, PhD (SCPM)

November 29, 2011

Uses of Clickers

• Attendance• Formative Assessment• Summative assessment• Homework collection• Question-driven instruction

Benefits

• Maintain student attention• Promote discussion• Encourage participation from every student• Safe space for unsure students• Check for understanding during class• Add a little drama

Electronic voting to encourage interactive lectures: a randomised trial

Paul M Duggan, Edward Plamer and Peter Devitt

BMC Medical Education (2007), 7: 25

Methods

Two groups of 64 and 63 students Received two 40 minute lectures Breast cancer screening Cervical cancer screening

Cognitive skill measured with two 15-question multiple-choice questionnaires

Before After 8-12 weeks later

Student OpinionStandardized student experience of learning and teaching questionnaire for each lecture

Lecturer OpinionEase of preparation, Ability to keep on timeSatisfaction, Educational valueLikelihood of continued use of EVS

Mean percentage (95% confidence interval) values for the repeated multi-choice tests categorized by lecture type and topic. The differences between baseline, post- lecture and delayed testing are statistically significant (p = 0.037). The difference in baseline for the two topics is statistically significant (p < 0.001). The difference in delayed testing between attendees and absentees is significant (p < 0.001). Trad = traditional lecture; EVS = EVS lecture; Cx = cervical cancer topic; Br = breast cancer topic; Pre = test sat immediately before lecture; post = test sat immediately on completion of lectures; Del = delayed test 8–12 weeks after lecture; Absent = students who did not attend lectures but sat the delayed test.

Student Questionnaire

The cervical cancer lectures showed higher ranking in favor of EVS in all domains

Effectiveness, organization, concern, enthusiasm, participation, stimulation, clarity

The breast cancer lectures showed higher ranking in favor of the traditional lectures in 5 of seven domains

Effectiveness, organization, concern, stimulation, clarity

Results of lecturer evaluations

EVS lectures difficult to prepareAble to keep to the timeEducational value similarNeutral to slightly favorable to use EVS again

Encouraged student participation Showed student difficulties Showed flawed MCQ distractors

Conclusions

EVS encouraged active learning

EVS lecture requires substantial investment of lecturer’s time

No difference in scores for students attending traditional or EVS lectures

You are asked what is the airspeed velocity of a swallow. What is the most appropriate response?

What is the airspeed velocity of a swallow?

Afri

can

Euro

pean

Lad

en

Unla

den

11

met

ers/

sec

18%

9%

18%18%

36%

1. African2. European3. Laden4. Unladen5. 11 meters/sec

Title: Using Clickers to Improve Student Engagement and Performance in an Introductory Biochemistry Class

By: Stephen Addison, Adrienne Wright and Rachel MilnerUniversity of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education(2009) 37: 84-91

Medical Microbiology and Immunology

1. Students get a grading bonus for using the clickers in 65% of the sessions

2. About 60% of the students get the bonus3. Students take a “shelf” or national test in Micro and Immuno

at the end of the course4. About 180-190 M2 students5. Attendance is better than in other courses without clickers, but

maybe about an extra 40 students. This is not a hard number.

Comparison of 2011 Shelf Exam Scores and Final T-Scores

T-Scores

Shelf Scores

Passing: 340 Nat’l Mean: 490 Class Mean: 578 Students: 184

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 700

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Clicker Use vs Average % and Shelf Score

Avg % before bonus Avg Shelf score

Clicker Use 10-11 09-10 08-09 07-08 06-07 10-11 09-10 08-09 07-08 06-07

> 65% 85.3% 85.6% 84.6% N/A 83.6% 562 618.7 586.2 555.5 537.3

< 65% 85.1% 83.2% 84.0% N/A 80.6% 612 598.3 572.7 517.9 478.7

Standard Deviation : 129.3 123.6 136.6 136.9 108.0

Conclusion for the use of clickers in the Biochemistry and Med Micro courses

• No clear cut benefit in terms of test scores• Liked by students• Can stimulate attendance, but maybe only if a

bonus is used.

Please rate the likelihood of your using clickers in the future.

1 2 3 4

29% 29%

14%

29%1. Already use them2. Likely to use them3. Somewhat likely to

use them4. Unlikely to use them