Using Clickers in Classrooms
Audience response system strategies have become more popular in higher education classrooms throughout the country over the last several years. There is currently a high spirited debate on whether or not the use of these "clickers" or "response systems" can be used as a valid measure of assessment and help in the process of knowledge construction. Some critics of audience response systems consider them to be a game similar to "Who Wants To Be A Millionare" where the classroom randomly guesses answers to questions rather than cognitevly processing the appropriate information. Proponents of audience response systems believe that using "clickers" in class allows teachers the opportunity to be aware of student learning or confusion so that teachers can focus their learning practices on specific concepts that are hard for students to understand. Specifically in this research paper I will also be focusing on the effectiveness of student response systems in science classes.
Sources to be used
Barnett, J. (2006). Implementation of personal response units in very large lecture classes. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 22(4), 474-494.
Cain, J, Black, E, & Rohr, J. (2009). An Audience response system strategy to improve student motivation, attention, and feedback. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 73(21).
Draper, S, & Brown, M. (2004). Increasing interactivity in lectures using an electronic voting system. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 20, 81-94.
Kay, R, & LeSage, A. (2009). A Strategic assessment of audience response systems used in higher education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 25(2), 235-249.
Lasry, N. (2007). Peer instruction comparing clickers to flashcards. American Association of Physics Teachers.
Mazur, E. (1997). Peer instruction getting students to think in class. The American Institute of Physics.
Mazur, E. (2009). Farewell, lecture. Science Mag, 323,
Wit, E. (2003). Who Wants to be... the use of a personal response system in statistics teaching. MSOR Connections, 3(2),
Article Locations Online
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet25/kay.html
http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/405568/Wieman.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690899/
http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/publications.php?function=search&topic=8
Groups:
Submitted by Michael Archibald on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 9:41am
Printer-friendly version
Disclaimer
Any opinions expressed here, except as specifically noted, are those of the individual authors or commenters and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, or Utah State University.
narrow it a bit?
That's a fine topic. I would just suggest narrowing it a bit more to a particular area of application of clickers. The first choice would be between K-12 classes and higher education classes, but you can even narrow it farther probably since there is so much out there on clickers and personal response systems. For example, using clickers in science classes or so forth.
Ning Fang is a faculty member at USU who has done some research on clickers in engineering education, too, if you want to talk with someone who could help suggest other references:
http://www.ete.usu.edu/faculty.htm
clickers
I use a jeopardy game in my classroom to review for tests. The game utilizes clickers similar to the ones you describe in your article. I can also see how opponents to this strategy can claim that it is too much like a game show but from experience I know that students not only enjoy this type of activity but it is a great learning strategy. Many of my students love the chance for competition and that is one more motivator to help them learn. Since only the student or group of students who click first will be able to respond to a question it is important to make sure the rest of the class is attentive and listening. Even though they might not click in first they can still answer the question in their heads. They are very motivated to do this when I tell them the questions they are answering are off the test!
I have found articles that
I have found articles that are more centered on using clickers in science education. I am still keep many of the old articles because they have good applicable information.