For students, clickers (or classroom response systems/personal response system) provide a means to actively participate in class, particularly in large classes.
For faculty, clickers provide an alternate method of engaging students and measuring student comprehension.
Activites for using clickers can include:
- Actively engage students through practice or review questions,
can be in the form of games played individually or in teams - Conduct opinion surveys, provide visual representation of different perspectives
- Provides visual feedback to students of how they compare to peers. Poll and re-poll in same session to measure gain in understanding
- Promote collaboration – put students in groups, have them discuss a question, come to consensus, record their answer as a group, compare group responses, have students discuss
- Generate instant feedback on question, issue or calculation
- Increase communication – hear from every student in class on every question
- Capture formative and summative assessment – measure student preparation, understanding or satisfaction
Resources on Using Clickers
- In the pouch with each set of clickers is a ring of cards with basic instructions.
- Classroom PCs and your office computer should be setup with both of these pieces of software:
- TurningPoint 2008: software that adds another tab to the PowerPoint menu tabs so that you can easily create interactive PPT slides that use the turning point clickers and receivers
- TurningPoint AnyWhere: stand alone software that allows you to quickly poll your class
- At the Turning Technologies website are a variety of resources on how to use the clicker software, including:
- Clickers in the Large Classroom: Current Research and Best-Practice Tips, Teaching with classroom response systems
- Product Guides and Manuals for Turning Point 2008
- Quick Start guides for Turning Point
- Product Guides and Manuals for TurningPoint Anywhere
You can convert existing PowerPoint slides into TurningPoint Slides by following the directions below:
(Make sure you are opening your PPT with Turning Point and not PPT)
1. Confirm that the existing slide is in Title/Text layout for Office 03 or Title/Content layout for Office 07 and Office 2010.
2. Select Insert Object from the TurningPoint toolbar.
3. Select Charts from the drop down menu.
4. Choose a chart from the options.
This will insert a chart into your existing slide converting it into an interactive response slide.
General Resources on Using Clickers (Classroom Response System, or Personal Response System) in the Classroom
- Teaching with clickers from Vanderbilt Lists of types of clicker questions and activities to do
- A very indepth 33-page PDF document on the Effective Use of Clickers in Teaching from the U of Colorado at Boulder