[Itech] Fwd: TP Msg. #1033 Sixteen Suggestions for Teaching with Classroom Response Systems

Teresa Franklin franklit at ohio.edu
Tue Jun 15 15:50:12 EDT 2010


Graduates,

Some ideas for using clickers!

Dr. Franklin

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rick Reis <reis at stanford.edu>
Date: Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 3:01 PM
Subject: TP Msg. #1033 Sixteen Suggestions for Teaching with Classroom
Response Systems
To: tomorrows-professor at lists.stanford.edu


The sixteen suggestions that follow for teaching with classroom response
systems are drawn from the previous chapters. They are intended to help
instructors with or without experience teaching with clickers make more
intentional choices when using clickers--choices that help them teach more
effectively and lead to enhanced student learning.
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Folks

The posting below looks gives sixteen good suggestions for teaching with
classroom response systems such as clickers.  It is from Chapter 6, Why Use
Clickers in the book, Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating
Active Learning Environments, by Derek Bruff. Published by Jossey-Bass, A
Wiley Imprint. Fourth Edition. Copyright 2009 Vanderbilt University. All
rights reserved. All rights reserved. 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
94103-1741 <www.josseybass.com>.

Rick Reis
reis at stanford.edu
UP NEXT:  Lost Arts of Teaching

                                 Tomorrow's Teaching and Learning

        ------------------------------------------ 975 words
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                         Sixteen Suggestions for Teaching with Classroom
Response Systems


Why Use Clickers?

Instructors teach with classroom response systems for a variety of reasons.
Some of the benefits of clickers, such as the ability to collect student
feedback rapidly, are difficult to achieve in large courses without
classroom response systems. Other benefits, such as the ability for students
to respond anonymously to questions, are relevant regardless of the number
of students in a course. This conclusion discusses reasons to teach with
clickers, highlighting the unique capabilities of these response systems to
enable classroom experiences that are difficult to achieve without clickers
and to enhance other teaching methods that can be use with or without
clickers.

Final Suggestions

The sixteen suggestions that follow for teaching with classroom response
systems are drawn from the previous chapters. They are intended to help
instructors with or without experience teaching with clickers make more
intentional choices when using clickers--choices that help them teach more
effectively and lead to enhanced student learning.

1. Consider the following questions when drafting clicker questions:

* What student learning goals do I have for the question?
* What do I hope to learn about my students by asking this question?
* What will my students learn about each other when they see the results of
this question?
* How might this question be used to engage students with course content in
small-group or classwide
 discussions or by creating a time for telling?
* What distribution of responses do I expect from my students?
* What might I do if the actual distribution turns out very differently?

2. Look for answer choices for potential clicker questions in student
responses to open-ended questions, ones asked on assignments in previous
courses, on homework questions, or during class. This can lead to answer
choices that better match common student misconceptions and perspectives.

3. Use a variety of types of clicker questions. Some courses lend themselves
to particular types of questions, of course, but experimenting with
different kinds of questions (application questions, critical thinking
questions, student perspective questions, monitoring questions) can help
instructors use clickers in ways that
engage students and meet course learning goals.

4. Experiment with asking on-the-fly clicker questions--ones that are not
planned before class. Many classroom response systems make asking such
questions possible. Often a classwide discussion leads to spontaneous
clicker questions; other times rhetorical questions can be turned into
productive clicker questions. Either way, asking such questions is one
avenue for practicing agile teaching.

5. Use clickers for purposes other that quizzes and taking attendance.
Although clickers can make these activities more time efficient, students
often prefer to see them used in ways that are more directly
connected to their learning. Reviewing the results of a quiz immediately
after administering it is one way to do so. Using lickers to engage students
in small-group and classwide discussions and to offer students frequent
feedback on their learning is also effective.

6. Use clickers in smaller courses, particularly those that focus on
sensitive or controversial topics. The anonymity that classroom response
systems provide students can be important in helping them answer questions
about tough topics honestly.

7. Have students respond to clicker questions several time throughout a
class session. Although questions at the beginning and end of class sessions
can serve particular and useful functions, questions asked every ten to
fifteen minutes can help focus students' attention throughout the class.

8. For some questions, have students think of their answers before showing
them the answer choices. Since generating an answer is often more
challenging, this can help make clicker questions more challenging. Also,
hearing from students who generate answers not listed can help you learn
about your students.

9. Have students respond to a clicker question individually before
discussing the question in small groups. This leverages a classroom response
system's ability to allow all students a chance to think about a question
independently of their peers.

10. Be strategic about showing students the results of a clicker question.
If most students choose the same answer to a question with correct and
incorrect answers, showing students such results might lead them to assume
that the popular answer is the correct one and thus decrease their interest
in discussing the question further. If students are split among more than
one answer choice, however, showing students such results can help generate
small-group and classwide discussion.

11. For similar reasons, choose carefully when to indicate to students the
correct answer to a clicker question. Once some students know the correct
answer, they are likely to be less interested in further discussion of it,
perhaps incorrectly assuming that knowing the answer means they understand
the topic fully.

12. When reviewing a clicker question with students, spend at least some
time on each of the answer choices--right and wrong ones. Students often
appreciate hearing their instructor's perspective on
the answer choices they selected, even when they know those choices are
incorrect.

13. When reviewing a clicker question with students, have them share their
reasons for their answers. Not only does this shift students' focus away
from getting questions right or wrong and toward thinking critically, but it
also provides useful insights into students' thinking.

14. When students find a question difficult, have them reengage with it
through small-group or classwide discussion and them revote. Giving students
multiple opportunities to answer a question while providing
them with feedback mechanisms along the way can help them make sense of
course material.

15. Immediately after class, take a few notes about how particular clicker
questions played out during class. A little reflection right after class can
help in refining and improving clicker questions over time.

16. Find other instructors who teach with classroom response systems and
share experiences. Too often teaching is a private act, one instructors do
not discuss with their colleagues. However, such discussions are often very
useful in helping instructors teach more effectively and more enjoyably.

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Dr. Teresa Franklin
Professor
Instructional Technology
Educational Studies Dept.
313D McCracken Hall
College of Education
Ohio University
PH: 740-593-4561
Fax: 740-593-0477
franklit at ohio.edu
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