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This page gives a brief introduction to personal response system
clickers
Updated Jan 31, 2013 by bernardo...@gmail.com

What is a clicker?

A clicker is basically a device used for gathering data or information from a group of people. For example a group of teachers or students. The information results of a question or poll can then be displayed back to the group in the form of a chart or graph.

A classroom response system (sometimes called a personal response system, student response system, or audience response system) is a set of hardware and software that facilitates teaching activities such as the following.

  • A teacher poses a multiple-choice question to his or her students via an overhead or computer projector.
  • Each student submits an answer to the question using a handheld transmitter (a “clicker”) that beams a radio-frequency signal to a receiver attached to the teacher’s computer.
  • Software on the teacher’s computer collects the students’ answers and produces a bar chart showing how many students chose each of the answer choices.
  • The teacher makes “on the fly” instructional choices in response to the bar chart by, for example, leading students in a discussion of the merits of each answer choice or asking students to discuss the question in small groups.

Details

Clickers provide:

  • Allow students to voice their perspectives anonymously during class
  • Clickers allow students to respond to questions before they hear their peers’ perspectives, which encourages independent thinking
  • Clickers are not a magic bullet – they are not necessarily useful as an end in themselves.
  • Clickers become useful when you have a clear idea as to what you want to achieve with them, and the questions are designed to improve student engagement and instructor-student interaction.
  • What clickers do provide is a way to rapidly collect an answer to a question from every student; an answer for which they are individually accountable. This allows rapid reliable feedback to both you and the students.
  • Used properly, clickers can tell you when students are disengaged and/or confused, why this has happened, and can help you to fix the situation.
The best questions focus on concepts you feel are particularly important and involve challenging ideas with multiple plausible answers that reveal student confusion and generate spirited student discussion.
  • A common mistake is to use clicker questions that are too easy. Students value challenging questions more and learn more from them. Students often learn the most from a question that they get wrong.
  • For challenging questions, students should be given some time to think about the clicker question on their own, and then discuss with their peers.
  • Good clicker questions and discussion result in deeper, more numerous questions from a much wider range of students than in traditional lecture.
  • Listening to the student discussions will allow you to much better understand and address student thinking.
  • Even though you will sacrifice some coverage of content in class, students will be more engaged and learn much more of what you do cover.
  • When clickers are used correctly, students overwhelmingly support their use and say they help their learning.

Soruce: Classroom Response Systems (“Clickers”) by Derek Bruff, Director, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching

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