FAQ on Using Student Response Systems at MU

WHAT IS A STUDENT RESPONSE SYSTEM?

During the past 12 years, student response systems have been available in various forms to increase the level of student engagement and to help instructors get immediate feedback regarding student comprehension. MU supports the radio frequency Classroom Performance System (CPRrf) from eInstruction. The system includes a receiver and transmitters (“clickers” similar to a television remote control) that can be used in the classroom. Each device has several numbered and lettered buttons so that students can give responses to questions posed by the instructor. The system also includes software for the instructor that permits identification of students responding, detection of individual responses, and merging of data for charting the trends of answers. The software also allows importing questions and graphics from other programs, and is tightly integrated with PowerPoint. Grades may be exported to Excel, or Blackboard.

DO STUDENT RESPONSE SYSTEMS IMPACT TEACHING AND LEARNING?

MU faculty who use this technology believe their students are more engaged - “ ...they now participate, nearly all of them, a couple of times during a class period. This is important in a large class where getting everyone involved consistently is difficult.” It is critical that instructors allow enough time in advance to prepare for different educational uses:

Evaluation of student understanding of concepts
Polling student views as a springboard for discussion participation, peer interaction
Gaining attention to introduce a new topic
Attendance check

ARE STUDENT RESPONSE SYSTEMS FOR ME?

If you answer all or most of these questions as “true”, then s.r.s may be for you. Please consult with ET@MO staff if you have questions or ideas on how s.r.s. may work for you.

I want to make my lectures more engaging
I want immediate feedback from students
I need to more effectively reinforce key concepts with students to build upon previous knowledge and draw connections with new material
I want a more flexible lecture; based on student responses, spending less lecture time on concepts students have mastered and more time on complex concepts
I am willing to devote class time to orienting students to the clickers
I am open to spending less time lecturing and more time discussing student questions
I have time to devote to restructuring my presentation

HOW CAN I EFFECTIVELY PLAN AND USE STUDENT RESPONSE SYSTEMS IN MY CLASS?

1. Start as early as possible to learn the system. Contact ET@MO to facilitate ordering a receiver from eInstruction and attend a workshops or consultation about effectively using student response systems. Contact your MU Bookstore representative so that they will know how many transmitters (clickers) and codes to order for your class.

2. Practice in advance. MU faculty indicate that getting started was sometimes the most difficult part and confirming the system is in working order is one part of getting started. In planning for use during a lecture, some faculty arrange for a student assistant or a TA to help with managing the technology during class time. To be effective, however, it is important for assistants to also learn the system, as well as your expectations of their involvement.

3. Plan and organize how you will use the system in class. Identify your instructional style. Your mind-set is important; if you are willing to make changes from a lecture-only approach to one that includes pacing content and more student engagement, then this technology will be a great help.

4. Identify your purpose for using questions. You may display a question within the system software, on overheads, or in PowerPoint slides used during lecture. Regardless of the method, the important point is that the questions are structured in a way that accomplishes your goals.

Create discussion questions that lead to effective interactions. Research has shown that students respond best when questions connect to practical problems such as the following:

Help students to reconsider prior views
Distinguish among alternatives or promote some ideas over others
Develop new insights that link prior and introduced ideas
Reinforce previous knowledge or key concepts
Coalesce previously distinct notions or restructure ideas to enhance new connections
Apply new ideas or information to personally-relevant problems

Use active learning techniques throughout the semester. At the start of every class, post an ice-breaker question for students to respond to. Allow students to discuss the question with peers nearby. Then ask them to select the best answer to the question. Repeat the same question without revealing the correct answer or with a different question, eventually leading to one that introduces the topic to be discussed during the class period.

Responses to discussion questions may be either individually focused or used as a group method to encourage peer discussion or instruction. For example, you may divide the class into small groups and allow only answers that represent a group consensus.

5. Be patient. Some MU instructors found that it helped if they viewed the new approach as a “work in progress.” Focus first on learning how to use the technology and getting comfortable with frequent student engagement during the first semester. Then for the second semester refine questions and new active learning methods to take full advantage of what can be done to engage students through the student response system.

6. Expect greater response rates. Students use their registered remotes to respond to multiple-choice questions. You may set up the software so that they can survey students with or without capturing student IDs (some instructors have found this approach encourages greater response rates for students who are reluctant to be identified). This may also provide avenues to help students more easily focus on content rather than individual differences (i.e., gender, physical disabilities, and language or culture differences).

7. During the first week(s) of class, prepare students to use the technology. MU faculty have found it very helpful for students if they use the following methods.

Include information in the syllabus about the remotes such as why you are using the SRS and where/how they can get the remotes. Reinforce that remotes will be used frequently in class and it is the student’s responsibility to keep remotes safe and in proper working order (e.g., buying batteries)
If you plan clicker use to be incorporated in participation points, address how calculations may accommodate occasional illness or tardiness
ET@MO staff are available to assist you during an in-class introduction of the system, perhaps facilitating an activity to introduce how to operate the clickers to demonstrate how the transmitters and the receivers work, and forewarn students about how to handle problems (such as lost or malfunctioning clickers) including how you will handle times when the technology does not work
Include information about how to register and linking their identifier (name or number)
to their individual remote (we recommend students setup their account using their pawprint)
Indicate that answers from the remotes will be private, collected automatically and almost instantaneously, and consolidated into a summary of all answers for polling the class
If students lose clickers, they should check with the instructor; another unit may be purchased from the bookstore and the student will need to register the new ID number. Suggest lost remotes be turned into the instructor
Discuss academic honesty and the class honor code; sending a remote to be used by a different student in the class risks the consequences of academic dishonesty. Students should not use another person’s remote because this links answers to the wrong name and they will not receive participation points
Show students how they may know whether their answer has been received or not, as well as how to know if they change their answer, then demonstrate the comparative charts to show trends in class responses.

WHAT IF STUDENT FEEDBACK ISN'T WHAT I EXPECTED?

Reflect on your experience and make revisions. Based on mid- or end of semester feedback, reflect on what has been most effective over the semester and what aspects require some rethinking.

Keep in mind the very nature of clickers runs counter to what many students have come to expect from a college classroom: student as passive audience member
Revise your documentation. Once you’ve taught with the clickers for a semester, you may need to better address the importance of this interactive technology in your syllabus and during initial class sessions so students become more sensitive to the benefits of active learning
Use the clickers often. Students will perceive value in purchasing the clicker if you use them often and in varying ways. While the clickers may not be appropriate in every class meeting, consider using an icebreaker question to tie a current event to the assigned reading
Devise ways to use the clickers in tandem with other technology or assessment mechanisms. If you use online quizzes for example, review the results before class and ask questions to highlight common mistakes or misconceptions
Consider recommending the clickers to other instructors in your department. Again, students will perceive value if the clickers are used in a variety of courses and you may also benefit as students become more familiar and savvy with the technology
Speak to other instructors using clickers about what works well for them and their students. ET@MO is happy to help you identify these instructors or consult with you to find additional effective ways to use clickers in your course.

How to adopt CPSrf for your class: MU assistance will be available via workshops and individual consultations with ET@MO staff. Send an email to etatmo@missouri.edu and indicate in the note that you are interested in learning about CPSrf or you have used clickers before and want a consultation about how to use them more effectively.