Clickers in the Classroom

With classroom response systems (or CRSs, also known as Student Response Systems, Individual Response Systems, or, informally, "clickers") in use in higher education for some 20 years, there is now both ample research and a wealth of examples and ideas to draw on for faculty who are contemplating their use, or exploring new ways to integrate them in their teaching.The research demonstrates that, integrated purposefully in courses, the use of clickers aligns with what neuroscience tells us about the formation of memory and the development of learning. In addition, they elicit contributions from otherwise reticent students and enhance collaboration, even in large lecture courses; foster more honest responses to discussion prompts; increase students' engagement and satisfaction with the classroom environment; and provide an instantaneous method of formative assessment.This book presents a brief history of the development of CRSs and a survey of empirical research to provide a context for current best practices, and then presents seven chapters providing authentic, effective examples of the use of clickers across a wide range of academic disciplines, demonstrating how they can be effective in helping students to recognize their misconceptions and grasp fundamental concepts.Like all pedagogical interventions, classroom response systems are no panacea, and the experienced contributors candidly describe avoidable pitfalls while demonstrating how clickers can deepen student learning and how, by providing instantaneous feedback, they enable teachers to make adjustments on the fly to better address student understandings or misunderstandings.The final chapter explores pros and cons of response systems that use mobile devices and smart phones, and the book concludes with an annotated list of further resources, such as books, articles, and videos.

David S. Goldstein is Director of the Teaching and Learning Center and Senior Lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington, Bothell. Peter D. Wallis is Instructional Technologist of Information Technologies at the University of Washington, Seattle. James Rhem

1. What's Constant? Clickers Across Contexts. Peter D. Wallis 2. Who's in the Room? Using Clickers to Assess Students' Needs, Attitudes, and Prior Knowledge. Traci Freeman and Brian Vanden Heuvel 3. Using Clickers in the Arts and Humanities. David S. Goldstein 4. Using Clickers in the Social Sciences. Ron Krabill 5. Using Clickers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Robyn Goacher, Danyelle Moore, Luis Sanchez, Paul R. Schupp and Yonghong Tong 6. Making Biostatistics "Click". Paul S. Weiss 7. When the Lesson Is in the Question. Illuminating Research Methodology Using Clickers. Christopher H. Wade 8. Using Clickers in Hospitality and Other Professional Programs. Alison Green 9. Using Clickers in Higher Education to Train Tutors in Learning Centers . Ashley Harris Paul 10. The Answer Is at Hand. Cell Phones as Transitional Educational Technology. Alyson Indrunas Appendix. Further Resources. Peter D. Wallis About the Editors and Contributors Index