The Student Response System

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The Student Response System
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• Active Learning in Your Classroom
• Hunter College
• William Sweeney, Dept. of Chemistry
• Pamela Mills, Dept. of Chemistry
• Sandra Clarkson, Dept. of Mathematics and
  Statistics
• William Williams, Dept. of Mathematics and
  Statistics
• Gina Cherry, ICIT
• Greg Crosbie, ICIT

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Lets Join the Clicker Group
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Who are we?
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• What best describes your position?
• Instructor
• Administrator
• Instructional designer/educational technologist
• IT specialist
• Media Specialist
• Other

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Question 1
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• Which are currently the three most populous
  countries?
• A. China, Russia, U.S. B. China, India,
  Indonesia C. China, U.S., Brazil D. China,
  India, U.S. E. China, U.S., IndonesiaSource

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Question 2
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• Which country is projected to have the largest
  population in 2050?a. Chinab. U.S.c. Indiad.
  Indonesiae. NigeriaSource

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Clicker Pedagogy
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• Assess student learning from lecture topic
• Assess student prior understanding before lecture
• Use clickers as a Socratic tool
• Ask students to predict an outcome, engage in
  group discussion, and revote (Predict/Observe/Expl
  ain)
• Use clickers to take an e-test
• Participating in experiments
• Simulations/modelling/games
• Collect data/take attendance

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Spring 05, 60 2nd semester freshmen, General
Chemistry IIFall 05, 90 1st semester Freshmen,
General Chemistry I
Experience with moderate size classes
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• Question handouts
• Mix of lecture and clicker questions

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Spring 05, 60 2nd semester freshmen, General
Chemistry IIFall 05, 90 1st semester Freshmen,
General Chemistry I
Experience with moderate size classes Observation
s
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• Attendance better
• Class participation better
• Shock of knowing student understanding
• Differences in pedagogy in classes

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Student FeedbackRelative to regular lecture, I
think using clickers is
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• S05
  F05
• Much better 37 27
• Better 33 36
• No better than lecture 23 25
• Worse than having regular lecture 5 10
• Much worse than regular lecture 2 2

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Classroom Experience A large chemistry lecture
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• 276 students
• 3 credit course, meets MW
• Chemistry 1 (General Chemistry for science
  majors)
• Clickers integrated into lecture and used during
  Monday lecture

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Faculty Feedback
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• Logistics students collect and return clickers
  at beginning and end of class
• Students learn the clicker ritual quickly

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Student Feedback
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• N is about 150
• on 5-point scale
• Strongly Agree-5, Agree, Neutral, Disagree,
  Strongly Disagree-1
• 1.      I like using the clickers. 3.5 3.9
• 2.      When Im feeling confused, it helps me to
  see that Im not
• the only person who doesnt understand. 4
  4.6
• 3.      I find it helpful when the instructor
  discusses the wrong
• answers as well as the right answers to the
  clicker questions. 4.1
• 4.      When using the clickers, I felt pressured
  to answer questions
• I normally would not have answered. 2.9
• 5.     Given two class sections that are the same
  in all other respects,
• I would take the one that uses clickers. 3.3
  4.2
• 6. I would prefer that the instructor do more
  lecturing and
• use the clickers less. 3.4 2.7

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Student Feedback
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• I like using the clickers because
• Since the class is so large, we cannot all ask
  individual questions.  With the clicker, you get
  to see and respond immediately to problems that
  affect a substantial percentage of the class, and
  that's beneficial to the class as a whole if not
  to every individual in every case.  This also
  saves a lot of time repeating the same
  explanations, time better spent addressing other
  questions and problems.
• It helps me focus and try harder
• It makes our large class feel a little less
  impersonal, less alienating
• I feel less foolish when I see many others also
  do not get it

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Student Feedback
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• I tend to question WHY is there this necessity to
  see if the class understands what is being
  lectured... This is a collegiate level chemistry
  courseThe lecture time is not the time to
  address student misunderstanding.
• You've heard most of it by now, but I concur that
  you shouldn't underestimate the power of a good
  lectureThe clickers are great for getting
  instantaneous feedback and knowing what is
  difficult to grasp and what isn't. I also agree
  that it makes things a bit more fun and the class
  smaller in some sense.
• I think the clickers are okay, but not that great
  to devote a whole lecture to clickers. I think it
  would be better if on Mondays we would have a
  lecture from 530-630 and until 650 we can use
  the clickers to see if the class as a whole
  understood the material taught that evening.

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STATISTICS 113
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• Hunter College of CUNY

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STAT 113
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• Required for nursing, psychology, geography and
  other sciences
• 175 students
• Large Lecture with a Computer Lab
• No Textbook--we use a CD-ROM

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Statistics Courses
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• Statistics books have remained essentially
  unchanged for 85 years
• Students are taught to calculate
• The course is BORINGto both students and
  instructors
• We changed to ActivStats

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ActivStats
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• Lesson Book
• Video Clips
• Modeling Tools
• DataDesk, a data analysis package
• Internet Links

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Lecture Class Format
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• Lecture and Computer Demonstrations
• Problems from the previous week are returned and
  discussed
• Small Groups work on problems from previous or
  current lecture. (These problems must be graded
  and recorded before returning them.)

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Computer Lab Format
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• Students work on assigned homework problems,
  using Data Desk
• Students work on data analysis projects
• Labs have an assigned instructor who works
  individually with students as needed.

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Clicker Impact
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• Attendance is better
• Instant feedback for Small Group problem
  sessions learning occurs!

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Clicker Plans
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• Integrate the clickers into the Lecture
• Continue to use the clickers with groups, not
  individually

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Change in Pedagogy
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• What percentage of the class are you willing to
  lose in lecture?
• How do you deal with wrong answers?
• How do students perceive the clicker lecture?
• How much time do you spend to change student
  responses?
• Other ways that the course has changed to
  accommodate the clickers?

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Purchasing Models student-owned vs.
college-owned
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• Factors to Consider
• Cost
• Standardization
• Classroom management
• Maintenance