Using Clickers to Assess Learning & Promote Student Engagement Presented by: Maura Matesic Sophie Bury Mar. 4th 2009

Introduction to Clickers What are clickers and what do they do? Clicker hardware & software (PRS/Turning Point) How to use them York’s web site: http://www.yorku.ca/cst/ideas/tel/clickers/index.html Other Resources: Video: What Are Clickers? (Norther Illinois University)

Clickers in Action… How many years have you been a librarian? Over 20 years 10-19 years 5-9 years 1-4 years Less than one year Doesn’t apply

Clickers as a Tool to Promote Student Engagement Maura Matesic

Library Component - Goals Promote not Teach We employed the technology not to transfer actual skills, but to advertise the existence of online library guides and promote the use of the library within the context of the course itself. We used the PRS technology to quiz students on library use and research styles, and “market” library resources interactively. Provoke not Tell Sessions were quick, focused, and aimed at piquing the students’ interest in library research. The Library sessions reflected the instructor’s teaching pedagogy and “modus opporandi” of provocation. Wanted to investigate actual student research practices To this end we quizzed students regarding library use mid-way through the term and at the end of the term.

Library Component - Design Series of questions To explore current research practices. To provoke thoughts of different avenues for research. Used humour to engage. Created tag - “dog”, as a reminder.

Study 400 students (2 groups of 200 each) were asked a series of questions regarding research practices and library use. Research and library related questions were asked three times during the 2006 Fall term – at the beginning, middle (wk 8), and end.

Initial Results The majority of students do their research in the library (30-33%), or by consulting with friends (23-25%). Students begin their research by reviewing course materials (33-44%) or by consulting with friends 28 - 34%)‏ While over half of the students have not used the business library, 39-46% believed they could do so effectively After this introductory session 63-69% planned to use the library for their research and 56-59% wanted more information on business research.

Mid-term results By the mid-term, close to half of the class had not started their research and 70-78% were NOT using library resources. The vast majority were finding the research process either “very difficult” (27-33%) or “hard but not impossible” (29-31%)‏

Final Results The majority of the students did their research by asking questions of friends or asking a librarian. The overwhelming majority of students did use the library. Only half of the students actually asked a librarian for help finding information and 50-75% found this information useful. After this experience a large majority of the students plan to use the library in the future.

Moving Forward Actions: Explore peer learning initiatives (follow-up study)‏ Involve additional librarians to provide online assistance via classroom software (moodle) Provide additional library instruction at mid-term workshop Note: Reiterated the importance of reminding students of the library and the help of librarians throughout the term, not just at the beginning of classes.

What do you perceive to be a key finding in this study? The importance of peer learning Student’s use (or lack of use) of the library The need to remind students about the library throughout the term The need to revamp IL instruction

Using Clickers to Assess Learning & Understanding Sophie Bury

Clickers and Assessment Quick way to assess students’ grasp of concepts Depending on results you may change points of emphasis, spend less or more time on specific themes. Skills-testing questions May or may not be task based, may be discovery-based Survey Experiences/Opinions This can help you pitch session effectively Way to gauge who is in your audience e.g. Demographics, program of study etc. Way to gauge students’ library experiences to date e.g. Previous library instruction How often they visit the library and why Students’ opinions on value of libraries or information literacy competencies Student feedback on value of library session

ADMS 3520. Lecture Classroom. Required Accounting Course ADMS 3520. Lecture Classroom. Required Accounting Course. Used to explore knowledge of topic and promote discussion CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY You can use the York University Libraries’ catalogue to: Find articles on a topic owned by York University Libraries Find books available at York University Libraries Find government publications available at York University Libraries Find videos available at York University Libraries Determine reliably whether York University Libraries own a specific journal, e.g., Harvard Business Review, in electronic format Determine reliably if York University Libraries own a specific journal, e.g. Harvard Business Review, in hardcopy format Wait a second…I’m not sure

MGMT1040. Required BBA Course. Small Classroom with Computers MGMT1040. Required BBA Course. Small Classroom with Computers. Pretest result for this question type = 14% correct. Used to test understanding of a concept after it has been explained. CHOOSE ONLY ONE ANSWER To find the following citation you could search E-Resources Quick Search box at www.library.yorku.ca using: Matten, Dirk. (2003)“Symbolic Politics in Environmental Regulation: Corporate Strategic Responses”. Business Strategy and the Environment. 12.4: 215-226 Article title = Symbolic Politics in Environmental… Author = Matten, Dirk Journal Title = Business Strategy and the Environment Wait a second…I’m not sure.

Fostering & Assessing Higher Order IL Competencies Standard lecture format should be heavily revised when clickers introduced to facilitate discovery learning (Fies & Marshall, 2006), e.g., “Question Driven Instruction” (Beatty et al., 2006)- > core of in-class instruction. “…making question posing, pondering, answering and discussion the vehicle of learning”. Peer Instruction (Mazur, 1997): Individual responses & group discussion. DeBourgh (2008) describes how clickers can be used to foster advanced reasoning skills. Strategic Instructional Design.

Designing Good Clicker Questions (Beatty et al., 2006) Specific pedagogic purpose: content goal process goal metacognitive goal Four complementary mechanisms: direct students’ attention stimulate cognitive processes communicate information to the instructor and the students facilitate the articulation and confrontation of ideas.

Gauging Retention of Concepts Taught Using Clickers: Role of Post-Test Questions reinforced using clickers

Significant Retention Evident Question 6: How to find a journal article online when given an article citation Pre-Test: 14% Post-Test: 66% Question 7: Knowing that OR broadens search results Pre-Test: 35% Post-Test: 75% Question 8: Appropriate use of truncation Pre-test: 28% Post-Test: 86%

Assessing Students’ Reactions to Clickers: Highlights from MGMT1040 (Fall 2008) Student Evaluation

Assessing Students’ Reactions to Clickers: Highlights from MGMT1040 Student Evaluation Over 70 positive comments and less than 15 students who had reservations. Heightened student engagement & participation. “I believe that the clickers encouraged students to be more involved in the session and pay more attention…” “It was a very interactive experience” Easy and efficient. “They're easy and surprisingly very efficient and hassle free”. Value of learning from peers. “It was interesting to find out what other students were thinking. It was fun”. Valued anonymity. “Made it easy to express what you think with no fear of being embarrassed by getting the wrong answer”. 22

So what are your impressions of clickers So what are your impressions of clickers? Having attended this session, do you think you’d like to use clicker technology in some of the classes you teach? Yes No Abstain

References Beatty et al. (2006)“Designing Effective Questions for Classroom Response System Teaching”. American Journal of Physics.74.1. 32-39. DeBourgh, G. A (2008). “Use of Classroom “Clickers” to Promote Acquisition of Advanced Reasoning Skills”. Nursing Education in Practice. 8: 76-87. Fies, C. & Marshall, J. (2006). “Classroom Response Systems: A Review of the Literature”. Journal of Science Education and Technology. 15.1, 101-109. Mazur, E. (1997). Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual. Prenctice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Discussion Time Questions or Comments?