SBCC FRC presentation of using clickers in college classrooms

1. Clickers
12/12/11
Robert Brown
Mark Ferrer

2. • http://flex.sbcc.edu
Request Flex Credit for
This session

3. NXT Clickers
Installed in
BC Forum
 H-111
 ECC-11
 A-160
 EBS-301
 PS-130
 Nursing A174

4. Clicker RF Receiver is plugged
into the tower
RF Receiver (Radio-Frequency)
USB RF receiver setup is simple. No
driver installation is required. The
radio frequency technology allows for
a 200 foot range (400 ft coverage)
and does not need a “line of sight”
with the ResponseCard keypads. The
approximate size of a thumb drive, it
doesn’t require cables and is easy
to transport from room to room or
class to class. For use with
ResponseCard XR keypads.

5. Clicker Resources
Student access to clickers:
Bookstore ($45 with Buy Back of $20)
Faculty provision (Carts, Carriers)
Installed (No plans to increase #s of rooms)
Faculty Training, clicker Resources &
Support
FRC

6. Clickers in context:
Pedagogy, Tools, Data
Pedagogy/motivation: Student Engagement
Strategies: Active learning, Learning
Communities, Social Constructivism, Contingent
Teaching, Formative Assessment
(Rubrics), Student Conferences, Follow-up
Tools: DRTAs
(Heuristics), DLAs, Moodle, Moodle-based
Supplemental Instruction/Learning
Resources, Clickers, Web 2.0, Human Presence
Tools...
Data: Information about student performance in

7. Lecture Broadcast Model
Chatting
Texting?
Napping
Ogling

8. Lecture Broadcast Model
1000 years later
Chatting
Texting
Napping

9. Mazur on Lecture
"The lecture method is a process
by which the lecture notes of the
professor get to the notebooks of
the students without passing
through the brains of either."
Eric Mazur

10. The Road to transformation:Pedagogy
A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education By Robert B. Barr and John Tagg (Change
magazine, 1995)

11. Clickers: benefits

12. Reasons for Using Clickers in the
Classroom used in college classrooms
(Caldwell, 2007), the top 9 reasons why clickers have been
are:
• 1. to increase or manage interaction,
• 2. to assess student preparation and ensure accountability,
• 3. to find out more about students,
• 4. for formative assessment,
• 5. for quizzes or tests,
• 6. to do practice problems,
• 7. to guide thinking, review, and teaching,
• 8. to keep students actively thinking,
• 9. and to make lecture engaging

13. General Guidelines,use Clickers to…
Promote active student engagement
Generate instant feedback
Promote discussion and
collaboration

14. Early Discovery
• Check for student understanding during
class
• Establish level of Prior Knowledge
• Pretest/posttest pairs
• Address Common Misconceptions

15. CATs: Immediate
Feedbacktechniques (CATs) are simple, non-
Classroom assessment
graded, usually anonymous, in-class activities designed to
give you and your students useful feedback on the teaching-
learning process as it is happening. (Angelo and Cross, 1993)
They provide an easy and quick way to get feedback from
students about:
Prior knowledge
Preconceptions/misconceptions
Opinions
Understanding
Confusion
Satisfaction

16. Why Should I Use CATs?
CATs can be used to improve the teaching and learning that
occurs in a class. CATs can:
• Provide just-in-time feedback about the teaching-learning process
•Provide information about student learning with less work than
traditional assignments (tests, papers, etc.)
•Encourage the view that teaching is an ongoing process of
inquiry, experimentation, and reflection
• Help students become better monitors of their own learning
• Help students feel less anonymous, even in large courses
• Provide concrete evidence that the instructor cares about learning

17. Minute Paper
http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/assess.htm

18. Adapt Minute Paper CAT to Clicker Use
Adapt Minute Paper to Clicker use by
listing, before class, the major points covered in
lecture. At the end of class ask students to select
from your list the most important point they
learned that day. Add “other” to see if
something else stood out.
If “other” is the chief vote getter, have a
discussion asking what “other” was most
commonly cited. Use small groups first to sort
out the most shared “other important point,”
then ask groups to explain that choice during the
subsequent full class discussion.

19. Follow-Up: DLAs
Definition of “Directed Learning Activity”
Directed Learning Activities are guided
processes directing students through the
steps needed to complete tasks that reinforce
the skills required of them to succeed in their
courses. DLAs extend classroom instruction
into a tutorial environment, using a one or
two-page document that walks students
through a sequence of learning activities that
are mediated by a tutor.

20. How does the DLA process work?
DLAs often follow up a classroom introduction.
Students then take the assignment to a tutor who
provides guidance (e.g.,five minutes) on how to
complete the tasks, which are generally
presented as a series of instructional steps
that, when completed (45 minutes), are brought
back to a tutor for consultation (e.g.,10 minutes).
The tutor signs off and the student returns the
assignment to the teacher.

21. Concept Tests
"ConcepTest" refers to questions (questions interspersed in
a lecture) used to assess students' understanding of
concepts presented in that lecture.
During lecture students are presented with ConcepTest
questions.
They formulate their own questions, then meet in groups to
try to reach consensus on the best answer.
This process forces students to think through the
arguments being developed, and enables them (as well as
the instructor) to assess their understanding of the
concepts before they leave the classroom

22. Contingent Teaching
Applied in real-time.
As it can be challenging for instructors to determine
what students do and do not understand, instructors
can use clickers to gauge student comprehension in
real-time during class and modify their lesson plan
accordingly.
If the clicker data show that students understand a
given topic, the instructor can move on to the next one.
If not, more time can be spent on the topic, drawing on
more lecture, class discussion, or another clicker

23. Peer Instruction
1. Teacher poses a question
2. Students ponder the question silently and transmit their
individual answers using the clickers.
3. The teacher checks the histogram of student responses.
• If significant numbers of students choose the
wronganswer, the teacher instructs the students to
discuss the question with their neighbor.
• After a few minutes of discussion, the students submit
their answers again.
This technique often (but not always!) results in more
students choosing the correct answer as a result of the
peer instruction phase of the activity.

24. Peer Instruction
Eric Mazur:
Peer Instruction engages students during class
through activities that require each student to apply
the core concepts being presented, and then to
explain those concepts to their fellow students.
A class taught with PI is divided into a series of
short presentations, each focused on a central point
and followed by a related conceptual question,
called a ConcepTestwhich probes students’
understanding of the ideas just presented.

25. Peer Instruction
Eric Mazur Continued:
Students are given one or two minutes to formulate
individual answers and report their answers to the
instructor.
Students then discuss their answers with others sitting
around them; the instructorurges students to try to
convince each other of the correctness of their own
answer by explaining the underlying reasoning.
During the discussion, which typically lasts two to four
minutes, the instructor moves around the room
listening. Finally, the instructor calls an end to the
discussion, polls students for their answers again.

26. Peer Instruction
This method, besides having the advantage of engaging the
student and making the lecture more interesting to the
student, has the tremendous importance of giving the
instructor significant feedback about where the class is
and what it knows. Too often, we use the "union of
knowledge principle" -- if any student in the class knows
something, we assume the whole class knows it. The
response system gives us much better information about
the distribution of knowledge among our students. This
method also offers significant opportunity for engaging the
students in discussions of reasoning and epistemology
(how we decide which answers are right and under what
circumstances the answers hold).
http://www.physics.umd.edu/perg/role/PIProbs/

27. Peer Instruction: Steps
1. Instructor shows the question and explains it,
2. Students silently think for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes,
3. Individuals answer (using clickers, which allow
immediate tallying of anonymously given answers),
4. Discussion ensues among small groups of students
(instructor doesn't try to control the groupings),
5. Students answer again, after their group has come to
some consensus,
6. Instructor explains the answer (and goes on to
repeat the process for the next small bit of lecture).

28. Interrupted Case Method
Interrupted Case Method (Herreid 2005) is ideally suited for
use with clickers.
The case is delivered in parts, or stages.
1.
At each stage, students are given information and asked to
2.
predict what might happen if such and such were done.
Before voting, they consult with their neighbors…
3.
The case method integrates lecture material, case scenario
material, student discussion with their neighbors, clicker
questions, clarification of the answers, more lecture, and data
on learning.

29. Clickers and SLOs
Ask questions that address outcomes.
Use quizzes to determine the extent to which students
have achieved the CSLOs set out in the course.
The Session report will keep scores by student and question.
Use the results to determine SLO scores for each student.
The Effect of Clickers on Student Learning
“Findings of this study revealed that the use of clickers showed a positive
impact on overall student learning. Moreover, students also reported that
they were satisfied, and that clickers increased their interest, cognitive
effort, understanding, and motivation. Additionally, the findings here are
consistent with other research that shows that clickers can serve as a useful
pedagogical device (see for example, Berry, 2009;
Mayer, Stull, DeLeeuw, Almeroth, Bimber et al., 2009; Shaffer & Collura, 2009).”
Kimo Ah Yun, California State University, Sacramento, Maureen Lojo, California State University, Sacramento

30. Clickers: Tips

31. Clickers: Survey
1) Will you be using Clickers in your Spring classes?
1 Yes 2 No
2) If yes, in which room(s) will you be teaching in the
Spring? _______ (Fill in Blank)
3) How many students will you have in each class?
_______ (Fill in Blank)
4) Do you want to record attendance using clickers?
1 Yes 2 No

32. Clickers: Quiz Q1
Q1. How many minutes are students given to
arrive at their individual answers in the
first round of the Peer Instruction
process:
1. 5
2. 3
3. 1-2

33. Clickers: Quiz Q2
Q2. Peer Instruction is valuable because (select all that are
correct)
1. It gives the instructor significant feedback about where the
class is and what it knows.
2. It gives us much better information about the distribution
of knowledge among our students.
3. It makes it less critical to prepare for class
4. It engages students in discussions of reasoning and
epistemology.
5. It is a gateway to Facebook and the dangers of self-
absorption.

34. Clickers: Quiz Q3
Q3. Concept Tests probe students’
understanding of the ideas just presented
in lecture.
1. True
2. False

35. Clickers: Quiz Q4
Q4. DLA is an acronym for
1. Direct Learning Activity
2. Directed Learning Access
3. Detailed Lesson Activity
4. Directed Learning Activity

36. Clickers: Quiz Q5
• Q5. Teachers employing Contingent Teaching
(Please select the better answer)
1. use clickers to gauge student comprehension
in real-time during class
2. use clickers to gauge student comprehension
in real-time during class and modify their
lesson plan accordingly.
3. use clickers to gauge student opinion in real-
time during class and modify their lesson
plan accordingly.

37. TurningPoint AnyWhere
With TurningPoint AnyWhere you can poll in ANY
application. Using a floating toolbar, TurningPoint
AnyWhere allows you to poll from content in whiteboard
software, web browsers, PDFs, Word documents ...
with no additional preparation required. Use your
existing presentation or classroom materials.
Assessment and tracking for groups or individuals is
also easily accomplished with a powerful reporting
engine. Participants and students can submit responses
using either traditional ResponseCards or
ResponseWare.

38. Use TurningPoint Software to:
Play Games with disguised Educational Intentions
• Jeopardy
• Want to be A Millionaire …
Use Multiple Choice to test Critical Thinking Skill
Ask for best answer
Ask for more than one correct answer…

39. Use TurningPoint Software to:

40. Key Features Include:
1. Floating toolbar will poll with ANY PC application
2. Open and close polling at any time, regardless of
program
3. Dynamic charting will appear in new window and
update with results
4. Reports are available in CSV as well as html
format
5. Allows for creation of a Participant List, enabling
presenter to track individual responses

41. Key Features continued:
6. Session Viewer enables editing of current
session
7. Create and load question lists for advanced
polling preparation
8. Screen shot report captures question, results and
screen shot of each question
9. Create questions on-the-fly
10. Question and connection information viewable in
toolbar
11. Display questions and results in full screen mode
for easy viewing

42. TPAW Software Download
You can download TurningPoint AnyWhere
software (TurningPoint AnyWhere 2.3) from their
site for installation on your home and/or office
computer. It’s free:
http://www.turningtechnologies.com/r
esponsesystemsupport/downloads/

43. TurningPoint AnyWhere2.3 System Requirements
• PC System Requirements
• Intel or AMD 600 Mhz class processor (1 GHz or higher
recommended)
• 256 MB RAM
• 60 MB hard disk space (an additional 32 MB is required if you
do not have Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 installed)
• 1024x768 resolution at 32-bit color or higher
• Standard USB 1.1/2.0 port (for USB-based hardware devices or
USB-serial Adapters
• Ethernet or 802.11 compatible wireless network card

44. TurningPoint AnyWhere2.3 System Requirements
• MacSystem Requirements
• G3-class processor or better
• Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
• 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)
• 10 MB hard disk space
• Available USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 port (for USB-based
hardware devices)