Digital Student Response Systems Iclicker Assessment 1-oral presentation Neha Gabba

What is iclicker?  A classroom response system (sometimes called a personal response system, student response system, or audience response system) is a set of hardware and software that facilitates teaching activities such as the following.  A teacher poses a multiple-choice question to his or her students via an overhead or computer projector.  Each student submits an answer to the question using a handheld transmitter (a “clicker”) that beams a radio-frequency signal to a receiver attached to the teacher’s computer.  Software on the teacher’s computer collects the students’ answers and produces a bar chart showing how many students chose each of the answer choices.  The teacher makes “on the fly” instructional choices in response to the bar chart by, for example, leading students in a discussion of the merits of each answer choice or asking students to discuss the question in small groups.

The Clicker  “Clicker” is the familiar term for Classroom Response System.  The iClicker is a remote to vote and has some advantages  Excellent design (both hand unit and entire system)  Simplicity  Ruggedness  Use of common AAA batteries  Students buy their iClickers at the bookstore for ~$40. The price per course becomes negligible if widely used on campus)  The bookstore has agreed to buy them back, in good condition, for about 1/3 to ½ of the cost new.

How will we use the clicker?  Teacher pose questions on the screen during lecture.  Students answer using your i>clicker remote.  Class results are tallied.  Teacher will display a graph with the class results on the screen.  Then discuss the questions and answers. Students will get points (for participating and/or answering correctly)! These can be recorded (e.g., for quizzes and attendance).

How do students vote?  Turn on the clicker by pressing the bottom “On/Off” button.  A blue “Power” light will appear at the top of the remote

How do students vote? When teacher asks a question in class, students clicker should be on.  Teacher may also ask students to talk about possible choice/answer with neighbor or in groups.  When teacher starts the timer, select A, B, C, D, or E as your vote.

How do students know their vote was received? Check your “Vote Status” Light:  Green light = your vote was sent AND received.  Red flashing light = you need to vote again. Not sure you saw the light? Just vote again. Want to change your vote? You can vote again as long as the timer is still going.

Registering your i>clicker Students earn points for their i>clicker responses [for participation and/or answering questions correctly]. Until they register register i>clicker, their responses are tied to their clicker remote ID (located on the back of their clicker), rather than to their name. When students do register, their previously recorded voting responses (if any) can be assigned to them.

Advantages There are several advantages to both the student and instructor using the i>clicker system.  The system operates in real-time and so the instructor and the students get immediate feed-back on the degree of understanding.  In contrast to traditional teaching methods, in which quizzes or tests are administered every few weeks, the results of the immediate feedback using i>clicker allows instructors to "adapt-in-time", i.e., before any test or quiz.  It will be used as a way of gaining "extra credit" and encourage attendance**.  It will increase participation in class activities, which is at the very heart of so called active-learning.  Since it is "anonymous" there is no pressure nor embarrassment on students who are normally hesitant in answering questions in class Although students can gain extra credit using the system, the principal reason for using the system is to enhance understanding of the material covered in class.

Downsides  iClicker only allows five options (answer choices) for multiple choice questions.  Some teachers have reported technical problems with iGrader, the software use to assign and record scores.  Sometimes the base station draws too much power.  iClicker offers a very limited choice of types of questions.

References clickerrightforme-.pdf