1. Introduction As educators, we are committed to ensuring that all of our students learn. How do we know that they have indeed learned? Having a tool to better assess students throughout a given unit would be a key element in making that happen. Having a tool that was non- judgmental and one that students felt comfortable using would ensure buy-in from the students. Most importantly, having a tool that would produce real time data could guide the instruction, and then improve further instruction by providing immediate feedback. The use of Audience Response Systems (ARS), more commonly called clickers, provides teachers with meaningful data to drive instruction and might help teachers to assess students more efficiently and effectively. Immediate data could transform an entire class period. Instruction could then be differentiated as it would be driven by the needs of the students and not by a teacher’s own agenda. Utilizing clickers to review before assessments could also better prepare students for assessments. By designing review questions to be answered with clickers, a teacher can monitor more closely the students’ participation, as they log in and track their responses. Through use of instantaneous graphs, the data from each question can immediately be evaluated and the teacher can determine whether to move on or spend extra time clarifying the subject matter being questioned. By the time the review session is complete the students might feel confident about the subject material they are soon going to be assessed on. Materials and Methods Acknowledgments I would like to thank Steve Gibbs for expanding my technology skills, and thank Pamela Redmond for such wonderful guidance throughout this entire process. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to my Mom and Pops for being my Tuesday night subs: From school pick up, to softball and baseball games, to homework helpers. Thank you for everything! I especially want to thank my four kiddos for your continued support and interest in what I am doing. You are always cheering me on. I love you all!! Conclusions Four key findings have been found in the literature with regards to clicker use in a high school biology classroom: 1. Student enthusiasm for clickers is high. 2. Students enjoy using clickers and believe they help them understand the material and prepare them for unit assessments. 3. Student attendance is strikingly improved when clickers are used. 4. Student learning appears improved as a result of using clickers. A benefit of clickers over traditional active learning methods is that they follow the principles of game-based learning. Students of the 21 st century have grown up using computer games for both entertainment and learning. (Martyn, 2011). Clickers are arguably a powerful, transformative tool (Derringer, 2011). Lots of research supports gains in learning and other research is inconclusive. Derringer’s main point is regardless of whether or not clickers improve learning, clickers do in fact improve class discussions and critical thinking, which in turn should result in better learning. It all depends on how effectively they are used. Noteworthy to mention is that this literature review has shown a substantial amount of research done at the college level and very little at the high school level. There is a definite need to fill in the gap. As there is very little existing research at the high school level, this study proves to be extremely important. Furthermore, providing high school teachers with data specifically related to how clickers impact their classrooms, and not just college classrooms, will prove to be quite valuable. By Karin Blackwood Graduate School of Education, Touro University – California Literature cited Derringer, P. (2011, Spring). Learning by clicker. Scholastic Administr@tor, 10(5), 30-33. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals database. Martyn, M. (2007). Clickers in the classroom: An active learning approach. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 30, volume 30, number 2. Retrieved from http://Volum//‌ Results For further information Please contact Karin Blackwood at kblackwood@nvusd.k12.ca.uskblackwood@nvusd.k12.ca.us or at lodmmup07@sbcglobal.netlodmmup07@sbcglobal.net Figure 4. ‌ The Use of Clickers in a High School Biology Classroom Figure 1. Sample evolution clicker review slides Table 1. Unit Assessment #3 scores for periods 3 & 4 from the 2011-2012 fall and spring semesters Figure 3. Survey question results for review session preference Table 2. Statistical analysis of Unit #3 Assessment Figure 2. Unit #3 Assessment Scores Third period scored an average of 65% for the fall semester on the unit #3 assessment and period 4 scored an average of 64 %. In the spring semester 3 rd and 4 th period, respectively, scored averages of 70% and 75%. When asked whether they preferred clickers to a traditional question/answer review session, 94% of the students asked said they preferred using the clickers for the reviews. This study takes place at a large high school in California. Enrollment is just over 2000, with an extremely diverse student popula- tion. Due to A-G requirements all students must take College Preparatory Biology. The classes are heterogeneous in nature, and therefore, it is quite easy for a student who is a non-native speaker to quietly slip into the background. The clicker review sessions will be utilized as the primary means for each review session and will occur in two class periods; last a whole class every time they are used; and continue for an entire semester. The spring assessment data will be compared to the unit assessment scores from the same group of students from the previous semester. This will serve as the baseline data for comparison as no clickers will have been used for the review sessions. Fall semester GPAs will also be collected on each student participating in the research study. The data will be analyzed to see if there was any significance to the use of the clickers for the review sessions and if overall GPAs went up, down, or stayed the same. Introduction As educators, we are committed to ensuring that all of our students learn. How do we know that they have indeed learned? Having a tool to better assess students throughout a given unit is a key element in making that happen; one that is non-judgmental and that students feel comfortable using might ensure buy-in from the students. More importantly, the tool should produce real time data to guide the instruction with the hope that this data could be used to further improve instruction by providing immediate feedback. Audience Response Systems (ARS), more commonly called clickers, provide teachers with meaningful data to drive instruction. They help teachers to assess students more efficiently and effectively. Immediate data can transform an entire class period. Instruction can then be differentiated to meet student needs as it can be driven by the needs of the students and not by a teacher’s own agenda. Utilizing clickers to review before assessments can also better prepare students for assessments. By designing review questions to be answered with clickers, a teacher can monitor more closely the students’ participation, as they log in and track their responses. Through use of instantaneous graphs, the data from each question can immediately be evaluated and the teacher can determine whether to move on or spend extra time clarifying the subject matter being questioned. By the time the review session is complete the students might feel confident about the subject material they are soon going to be assessed on. This study was designed to determine whether the use of clickers would positively impact a H.S. Biology class. Materials and Methods Acknowledgments I would like to thank Steve Gibbs for expanding my technology skills, and thank Pamela Redmond for such wonderful guidance throughout this entire process. I really appreciate Napa Learns paying for half of my tuition and making this educational opportunity possible for me. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to my Mom and Pops for being my Tuesday night subs: From school pick up, to softball and baseball games, to homework helpers. Thank you for everything! I especially want to thank my four kiddos for your continued support and interest in what I am doing. You are always cheering me on. I love you all!! Conclusions Four key findings were supported by the literature with regard to clicker use in a high school biology classroom: 1. Student enthusiasm for clickers is high. 2. Students enjoy using clickers and believe they help them understand the material and prepare them for unit assessments. 3. Student attendance is strikingly improved when clickers are used. 4. Student learning appears improved as a result of using clickers. A benefit of clickers over traditional active learning methods was that they follow the principles of game-based learning. Students of the 21 st century have grown up using computer games for both entertainment and learning. (Martyn, 2011). Clickers are arguably a powerful, transformative tool (Derringer, 2011). Lots of research supports gains in learning and other research is inconclusive. Derringer’s main point is regardless of whether or not clickers improve learning, clickers do in fact improve class discussions and critical thinking, which in turn should result in better learning. It all depends on how effectively they are used. Providing high school teachers with data specifically related to how clickers impact their classrooms, and not just college classrooms, will prove to be quite valuable. Analysis of the data revealed that clickers did in fact give students an advantage over traditional review sessions. Both unit assessment scores and overall semester GPAs increased as a result of the clicker review sessions. In addition, the student survey found that students felt the clickers motivated them and made the reviews more engaging. By Karin Blackwood Graduate School of Education, Touro University – California Literature cited Derringer, P. (2011, Spring). Learning by clicker. Scholastic Administr@tor, 10(5), 30-33. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals database. Martyn, M. (2007). Clickers in the classroom: An active learning approach. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 30, volume 30, number 2. Retrieved from http://Volum//‌ Results For further information Please contact Karin Blackwood at kblackwood@nvusd.k12.ca.uskblackwood@nvusd.k12.ca.us or at lodmmup07@sbcglobal.netlodmmup07@sbcglobal.net Figure 4. ‌ The Use of Clickers in a High School Biology Classroom Figure 1. Sample clicker review slides on the topic of Evolution Table 1. Descriptive Statistical Analysis of Mean Unit Assessment Scores Figure 4. Survey question results for review session preference Table 2. Descriptive Statistical analysis of GPAs Figure 3. Fall versus Spring Semester GPAs The mean fall semester GPA was 73.53 and the mean spring semester GPA was 80.65. The spring GPAs outscored the fall by 7.12%. When asked whether they preferred clickers to a traditional question/answer review session, 98% of the students asked said they preferred using the clickers for the reviews. This study took place at a large high school in California. Enrollment was just over 2000 students, with an extremely diverse student population. Due to A-G requirements all students must take College Preparatory Biology. A convenience sample of students was drawn from the researcher’s classes. The classes were heterogeneous in nature, and therefore, it was quite easy for non-native English speaking students to quietly slip into the background. Clicker review sessions were utilized as the primary means to conduct review sessions in two class periods; they lasted a whole class every time they were used; and they continued for an entire semester. The spring assessment data was compared to the unit assessment scores from the same group of students from the previous semester. This served as the baseline data for comparison as no clickers were used for these review sessions. Fall and spring semester GPAs were also compared. Data was analyzed to see if there was any significance to the use of the clickers for the review sessions and if overall GPAs went up, down, or stayed the same. Figure 2. Mean of all Fall versus Spring Unit Assessment Scores The mean for all of the fall unit assessment scores was 0.67 and the mean for all of the spring unit assessment scores was 0.73. The mean of all of the spring unit assessments outscored the fall by 6%.