Use of Clickers in class: Effects on Student Attendance and Performance Master Teacher Guild Mike Fennewald, PhD (SGPDS) Daniel Bareither, PhD (SCPM) Lecia Apantaku, MD (CMS) Roberta Henderson, PT, PhD (CHP) Fred Sierles, MD (CMS) John Becker, PhD (SCPM) November 29, 2011

Uses of Clickers Attendance Formative Assessment Summative assessment Homework collection Question-driven instruction

Benefits Maintain student attention Promote discussion Encourage participation from every student Safe space for unsure students Check for understanding during class Add a little drama

Electronic voting to encourage interactive lectures: a randomised trial Paul M Duggan, Edward Plamer and Peter Devitt BMC Medical Education (2007), 7: 25

Methods Two groups of 64 and 63 students Received two 40 minute lectures Breast cancer screening Cervical cancer screening Cognitive skill measured with two 15-question multiple-choice questionnaires Before After 8-12 weeks later

Student Opinion Standardized student experience of learning and teaching questionnaire for each lecture Lecturer Opinion Ease of preparation, Ability to keep on time Satisfaction, Educational value Likelihood of continued use of EVS

Mean percentage (95% confidence interval) values for the repeated multi-choice tests categorized by lecture type and topic. The differences between baseline, post- lecture and delayed testing are statistically significant (p = 0.037). The difference in baseline for the two topics is statistically significant (p < 0.001). The difference in delayed testing between attendees and absentees is significant (p < 0.001). Trad = traditional lecture; EVS = EVS lecture; Cx = cervical cancer topic; Br = breast cancer topic; Pre = test sat immediately before lecture; post = test sat immediately on completion of lectures; Del = delayed test 8–12 weeks after lecture; Absent = students who did not attend lectures but sat the delayed test.

Student Questionnaire The cervical cancer lectures showed higher ranking in favor of EVS in all domains Effectiveness, organization, concern, enthusiasm, participation, stimulation, clarity The breast cancer lectures showed higher ranking in favor of the traditional lectures in 5 of seven domains Effectiveness, organization, concern, stimulation, clarity

Results of lecturer evaluations EVS lectures difficult to prepare Able to keep to the time Educational value similar Neutral to slightly favorable to use EVS again Encouraged student participation Showed student difficulties Showed flawed MCQ distractors

Conclusions EVS encouraged active learning EVS lecture requires substantial investment of lecturer’s time No difference in scores for students attending traditional or EVS lectures

You are asked what is the airspeed velocity of a swallow. What is the most appropriate response?

What is the airspeed velocity of a swallow? 1.African 2.European 3.Laden 4.Unladen 5.11 meters/sec

Title: Using Clickers to Improve Student Engagement and Performance in an Introductory Biochemistry Class By: Stephen Addison, Adrienne Wright and Rachel Milner University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education(2009) 37: 84-91

Medical Microbiology and Immunology 1.Students get a grading bonus for using the clickers in 65% of the sessions 2.About 60% of the students get the bonus 3.Students take a “shelf” or national test in Micro and Immuno at the end of the course 4.About M2 students 5.Attendance is better than in other courses without clickers, but maybe about an extra 40 students. This is not a hard number.

Comparison of 2011 Shelf Exam Scores and Final T-Scores T-Scores Shelf Scores Passing: 340 Nat’l Mean: 490 Class Mean: 578 Students: 184

Clicker Use vs Average % and Shelf Score Avg % before bonusAvg Shelf score Clicker Use > 65%85.3%85.6%84.6%N/A83.6% < 65%85.1%83.2%84.0%N/A80.6% Standard Deviation :

Conclusion for the use of clickers in the Biochemistry and Med Micro courses No clear cut benefit in terms of test scores Liked by students Can stimulate attendance, but maybe only if a bonus is used.

Please rate the likelihood of your using clickers in the future. 1.Already use them 2.Likely to use them 3.Somewhat likely to use them 4.Unlikely to use them