YACRS was introduced at the University of Glasgow in September 2014, initially with two first year computing science classes with a total of approximately 170 students. The initial pilot introduction was extremely successful, and the software is now in use with a wide range of courses. While the key purpose of YACRS was to replace the classroom response clicker systems, which were mostly limited to multiple-choice interactions, the use of students Internet devices allows a greater range of interactions to be possible. YACRS also allows text response questions, and can also support multiple questions being active at the same time, which can be useful as a means running quick class tests or collecting student feedback responses.

1. Click to edit Master subtitle style
YACRS: A new open-source classroom
response system
Niall Barr, Learning & Teaching Centre
Quintin Cutts, School of Computing Science

2. Introduction
 Clicker systems using dedicated infrared or radio
handsets have been available for several years.
 Various issues have restricted their use:
 Handing out and collecting in handsets takes up valuable teaching
time
 Very big classes (~600)
 Batteries running out (and logistics of replacing them)

3. The alternative
• Smart phones are a suitable replacement for
clicker handsets
• Over 90% of new first year students in 2013 had a
smart phone.
• A web application designed for smart phones can
also be used from a laptop or tablet computer
• Advantages / disadvantages
• Cost; Batteries; Richer interactions possible
• The ~5% who say they don’t have a smart phone

4. Newsflash!
 2015 Student IT survey currently running of first 271 respondents
 Devices I have with me all the time / if needed / never

5. Newsflash!
 2015 Student IT survey currently running of first 271 respondents
 How happy would you be using these in class?

6. Why develop in house?
 Initially we tried a third party solution:
 Issues with scalability on our infrastructure
 Difficulty getting it to do what we wanted
 A quick look at commercial options wasn't inspiring
 High prices for something that's really very simple
 Inflexible
 Data location / security
 We (the LTU) like open-source and it seemed like an
interesting challenge...

7. YACRS (Yet Another Classroom Response System)
 Remit:
 A system that works well with the University’s infrastructure
 Easy for teachers to use so it doesn’t interfere with teaching
 Easy for students to use
 No actual budget for development...
 Solution
 A ‘LAMP stack’ web application (like Moodle)
 Students use a web browser (no mobile apps)
 A simple floating control application for teachers (Windows & Mac)
 Worry about long term support and management buy-in once
we've shown it works!

8. The development process
 Started with me developing simple web application
 Input from Quintin initially about ease of use for the
teacher
 Led to control apps (Windows and Mac)
 Further input from Quintin about report generation
 Pilot started with 2 CS classes (~90 students each) Sept.
2014.
 More lecturers joined pilot during year (~25 classes, over
35000 student responses.)
 'Beta' service started Sept 2015.

9. Let’s try it out
 A car rounds a curve while maintaining a constant
speed. Is there a net force on the car as it rounds the
curve?
 A: No, it's speed is constant
 B: Yes
 C: It depends on the sharpness of the curve and the
speed of the car.
From “Peer Instruction: Getting students to think in class” by Eric Mazur, 1997

10. The teacher’s view of YACRS

11. Conclusion
 At the University of Glasgow YACRS has been a success
 Teachers like it – the design was guided by one of them
 Very high student response rate
 Not as 'shiny' as commercial alternatives, but
 Integrates with University login systems
 Doesn't require students to install anything
 Very light on the wi-fi network

12. Contact and URLs
 Niall Barr (niall.barr@glasgow.ac.uk)
 https://github.com/niallb/YACRS
 http://www.myquizzes.co.uk