A presentation for the RCSI suggesting the use of clickers for large group teaching to engage and motivate students

1. Using Personal Response Systems ‘Clickers’ for Learning and Teaching
Muireann O’Keeffe, April 2013

2. Issues with large group teaching
Vision of students today video, Wesch, Kansas state University

3. 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)

4. How are clickers used?

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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

9. Benefits to large groups
• Anonymity
• Feedback
• Peer learning
• Results generates discussion
• Quizzes can be contribute towards summative assessment

10. 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.

11. Lessons learned at DIT
• The Students Perspective I really enjoyed using
the clickers in class, as
I have never done
I also think it gave people accounting before I
who don’t understand a found them very useful
chance to have the answer They were very good for helping solve
explained again, without as it allowed me to problems Great way to get
having to feel singled out by assess my ability in
asking a question in class, if
you thinking. It
relation to the rest of would be great if
they felt shy.
the class. the exam could be
I feel like I learn I like when we use done this way.
something in the clickers
every class because we put the
primarily due to theory into practice
the clickers

12. 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/)

13. 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/

14. 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/