clickers at cput
TRANSCRIPT
Daniela Gachago, Educational Technology Unit, Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development, CPUT
Clickers at CPUT– and student engagement?
Interactive, instructing questioning as teaching method is nothing new…
New technology…CLICKERS!
Anonymous Instant feedback Variety of question
types Record of data
My experience with clickers…
Clickers used since 20042500 clickers, first and second year students in College of Science and EngineeringIssued to students through library
Clickers used since 2010125 clickers, mainly for Foundation studentsIssued to lecturers on demand
Typical usage at Edinburgh Students bring clickers to each class 3-5 questions asked per class Knowledge type questions (right
answer) Focus on consistent use Main purpose: keep students awake,
engage large classes, feedback to staff and students, reveal common misconceptions
A boat carrying a large boulder is floating on a lake. The boulder is thrown overboard and sinks. The water in the lake with respect to the shore
1 2 3
17%
67%
17%
1. Rises2. Drops3. Remains the
same
UoE staff perception
UoE (staff): Ranked by importance, clickers seem to be most useful to…
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Score (max 500)
Score (max 500)
Usage at CPUT
Only 125 handsets for 2 campuses and 36.000 students
No installed PCs in lecture theatres How? Why? Creativity!
Testing of pre-knowledge
Pub quizzesCompetitions
Change of opinion/behaviourData collection
Discussion
The figure below presents three corridors to be used for traversing a road connecting two termini Mbazwana and Sodwana Bay
Civil Engineering First Year students
Q2: The earth is flat.
1. It is not flat, I can convince someone who says it is flat
2. It is flat, and I can convince someone who says it is not flat
3. It is not flat, although I do not know how to convince someone who says it is flat
4. It is flat, although I do not know how to convince someone who says it is not flat
Geomorphology class: Testing of pre-knowledge
Lecturer’s feedback…
Generally most students got all the questions right- which really surprised me, as I thought they had no idea of the concepts I was gonna teach. I had got this impression from the lecturer whom I took this topic from, and who has taught it for over 20 years. She said was certain, from her experience, that the students know nothing, hence my surprise at the consistently correct answers. ….
This also made me re-think my teaching approach, and I have been able to spend less time on the basics, go faster in class (I gave the students typed notes), and I've had time to include videos for teaching (which the students have loved very much!).
Why bother?
“What is engaging about clickers … is increased interaction superficial or meaningful in terms of learning? “ (Kay & LeSage 2009)
Steve Draper, University of Glasgow
* Draper S. (n.d.) Electronically enhanced classroom interaction.
“Possibly the most productive application, however, and the one with the largest body of existing research, is in using the equipment to initiate a discussion.* ”
Mazur Sequence
“You can forget facts but you cannot forget understanding” Prof. Eric Mazur, Harvard
Enter question text...
1 2 3
17%
67%
17%
1. Answer 12. Answer 23. Answer 3
First year Business students: Intercultural communication class
Student lecturer discussion
First year Business students: Intercultural communication class
Class discussion
First year Business students: Intercultural communication class
Typical question course 1 pre
Digital story intervention
GD Foundation students: I like clickers because...
I like clickers...
They are fun and full of energy
They are an exciting new way of learning
They are simple to use...
I dont feel judged...
They make me feel like I am participating in class although I dont speak up
It feels safe to participate
Nobody pushes you to talk if you dont want to..
They make us learn from each other
They let me see what other think
They make us think outside the box... It helps widening the thinking and helps the flow of thinking juice
You hear others opinions and then you weigh it up with your own and with that you can formulate a better answer
Student engagement levels
Gachago D., Morris A., Simons, E. (in development)
Johnson et al. (1998):
Cooperation is an essential pre-requisite for cognitive growth
Controversy theory: “…students need to be confronted with opposing points of views, leading to uncertainty or conceptual conflicts, for students to re-conceptualize and look for more information, which then in turn leads to more refined and thoughtful conclusions.”
