Clickers 101: A Primer for College Faculty Dr. Stephanie V. Chasteen Science Education Initiative,...

Clickers 101: A Primer for College Faculty

Dr. Stephanie V. Chasteen Science Education Initiative, CU-Boulderhttp://sciencegeekgirl.com

An introduction to the what, why, and how of clickers

THERE IS A POLL OPEN. Do you see it? If

not, select “polling” from the dropdown menu on your

toolbar.

Introduce yourself in the chat window as you

come in: Where and what you teach, and why

you are here.

This presentation is copyrighted under the Creative Commons License

Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike

That means: Please watch it, share it, and use it in your presentations. Just give us credit, don’t make money from it, and use the same kind of license on the works that you create from it.

More information about Creative Commons licenses here:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Credit should be given to: Stephanie Chasteen and the Science Education Initiative at the University of Colorado, http://colorado.edu/sei

About Me

Creative Commons – Attribution. Please attribute Stephanie Chasteen / Science Education Initiative/ CU-Boulder

Science Education Initiative: Improving science education through research on learning

Physics Education Research Group: Studying student learning in physics

http://colorado.edu/SEI

http://PER.colorado.edu

I’m also a blogger & consultant

http://sciencegeekgirl.com

Agenda

• Why question?

• About clickers and Peer Instruction

• Facilitation tips

• Common challenges

Handouts at

U. Colorado clicker resources…

Videos of effective use of clickers

http://STEMclickers.colorado.edu

Clicker resource page

2-5 mins long

• Instructor’s Guide• Question banks• Workshops• Literature / Articles

Introduction: Questioning

Why question?

• Why and when do we use questions (any questions!) in class?

Chat discussionShare your ideas in the chat window.

Clickers help students learn...

Peter Newbury, UCSD9

BEFORE DURING AFTER

setting upinstruction

developingknowledge

assessinglearning

Adapted from Rosie Piller, Ian Beatty, Stephanie Chasteen

t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e

BEFORE DURING AFTER

developingknowledge

assessinglearning

t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e

BEFORE DURING AFTER

developingknowledge

assessinglearning

skillev

analys

real w

t h e l e a r n i n g c y c l e de

BEFORE DURING AFTER

developingknowledge

assessinglearning

skillev

analys

real w

BEFORE DURING AFTER

developingknowledge

assessinglearning

Do they care about this?

Are they ready for the next topic?

What DO they care about, anyway?

What do they already know?

Clickers help teachers teach…

Did they notice key idea X?

Where are they in the activity?

BEFORE DURING AFTER

developingknowledge

assessinglearning

Are they getting it?

Do I need to intervene?

How did I do?

Did they get it?

BEFORE DURING AFTER

developingknowledge

assessinglearning

Can I move to the next topic?

Did that activity work?

About clickers and peer instruction

Two way conversations with students are vital...

...because students can misunderstand what we say

What does the “clicker” do for us?

What does this tool help us to do?

Chat discussionWhy use clickers to ask questions?Share your ideas in the chat window.

What does the “clicker” do for us?

Clicker questions have similar goals to non-clicker questions but…

• They are anonymous (to peers)

• Every student has a voice – the loud ones and the shy ones

• There is forced wait time

• You can withhold the answer until everyone has had time to think (choose when to show the histogram)

• They are multiple choice 19

What does this tool help us to do?

Clickers are a tool for questioning

But not a magic bullet!

Don’t equate the pedagogy with the technology.

So what IS the pedagogy? Peer Instruction

Anatomy of Peer Instruction

Ask Question

Peer Discussion

Debrief

…Lecture…(May vote individually)

* See also: Peer Instruction, A User’s Manual. E. Mazur.

Let’s try an example:

Which superpower would you

rather have? The ability to…

A. Change the mass of things

B. Change the charge of things

C. Change the magnetization of things

D. Change the boiling point of thingsQuestion: Ian Beatty, UNC Greensboro Image: Thibault fr on Wikimedia

Poll questionRespond to the poll, not in the chat.

Facilitation Tips

1. Ask a Question

• Ask several questions per lecture

• Ask challenging, meaningful, interesting questions

• Make your questions part of the lecture (not a quiz at the end)

• Use 2-5 questions per 50-minute lecture

Learning is in the application of knowledge. Students can learn from a question, and

reduces pace of lecture.

Conceptual question: Biology

A small acorn over time can grow into a huge oak tree. The tree can weigh many tons. Where does most of the mass come from as the tree grows?

A)Minerals in the soil

B)Organic matter in the soil

C)Gases in the air

D)SunlightCreative Commons – Attribution. Please attribute Stephanie Chasteen / Science Education Initiative/ CU-Boulder

Common misconception leads to answers (A) and (B). Correct answer: C

Survey/discussion: Sociology

A. Don’t have two opposite-sex parents / one or both didn’t work / varied year to year

B. Dad usually earned a lot more

C. Dad usually earned a little more

D. Mom usually earned a lot more

E. Mom usually earned a little more

http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/HB/mollborn/papers/Mollborn%20Hoekstra%20Teaching%20Soc%20forthcoming.pdf

Stefanie Mollborn

When you were growing up, which of your parents earned the most money?

Discussion question: History

In your opinion, which had the most positive impact on the modern world?

A) coffeeB) teaC) chocolateD) spiceE) sugar

Good discussion/debate question, before or after instructionNot necessarily a right answer.

John is walking to school. This graph shows his position as a function of time. When is John moving with the greatest velocity?

position

A B C D E (UBC CWSEI)

Graphical question: Physics

What texture does this rock display?

A. Phaneritic

B. Aphanitic

C. Porphyritic

D. Glassy

CU SEI

Question with images: Geology

Example of a less effective question

“Apprized” means

A) AppreciatedB) CompromisedC) DefiedD) Noted

No need to talk to your neighbor; you know it or you don’t! Does not encourage reasoning.

Another example of a less effective question

What causes the seasons?

A) The change in the earth’s distance from the sun during the year

B) The tilt of the earth’s axisC) Changes in the sun’s brightnessD) Changes in cloudsE) None of the above

Can pattern-match to find the answer because “tilt” would have been mentioned during lecture

What would happen to the seasons if the earth’s orbit around the sun was made a perfect circle (but

nothing else changed) ?

A. There would be no seasons

B. The seasons would remain pretty much as they are today

C. Winter to spring would differ much less than now

D. Winter to spring would differ much more than now Much better question. Requires

reasoning!

Better seasons example

2. Peer Discussion & Vote

• Get students on-board• Circulate & listen• Model good discussion• Give about 2-5 minutes• Show students you

value their reasoning

Students learn more deeply by articulating their thinking and teaching each other

How to get students to buy-in?

• See our “framing the active engagement classroom” activities and slides at http://www.colorado.edu/sei/fac-resources/framing.html

• Encourage engagement early and often!

Three schools of thought about points

High-stakes: Getting clicker questions right counts heavily in

your grade

Points as motivationSmall amount of

participation credit, perhaps some for

correctness

Intrinsically motivated: No points; the reward is

learning

Not recommended. Shuts down conversation, and does not support atmosphere of learning and respect.

Most often used. May only count as extra credit. E.g., 3 points participation, 1 point correctness.

Best-case scenario, if you can pull it off.

Reacting to their votes

Carefully choose when to show the histogram.Use your sneak preview to guide your instruction.

What do you do when it’s- 90% correct?- 70% correct?- 50% correct?- 20% correct?

This is where you show your “agility.”

What do you think you should do with this first-vote distribution?

First vote

A) “Turn to your neighbours and convince them you’re right”

B) confirm correct answer and move onC) “Can someone who answered B tell us

why they made that choice?”D) “Would someone like to explain why they

picked the answer they did?”E) other

3. Wrap-Up Discussion.

• Be careful about when to show histogram

• Ask multiple students to defend their answers

• Emphasize reasoning for right & wrong answers

• Treat student answers respectfully

• Make sure students know answer (and reason) by the end.

It is important to hear student ideas, and for students to get feedback on their thinking.

Giving the answer stops student thinking!

Peer Instruction helps students learn

Research shows that:

• Students can better answer a similar question after talking to their peers

• Students like peer instruction

• Peer instruction classes outperform traditional lectures on a common test

• Peer discussion + instructor explanation of question works better than either one alone

See http://STEMclickers.colorado.edu for various references

Question break

Ask Question

Peer Discussion

Debrief

…Lecture…(May vote individually

Common challenges

Challenges in the Classroom

• You ask students a question, and ask them to discuss.

• You then ask them to share their answers and reasoning in a whole-class discussion

• What could possibly go wrong?

Practices to avoid common challenges:

Challenge Possible solution

Content coverage?

Students reluctant to discuss?

Students reluctant to share with class?

Content coverage? 1. Focus questions on key concepts.

Content coverage? 1. Focus questions on key concepts.2. Reduce content in class or

course.

Content coverage? 1. Focus questions on key concepts.2. Reduce content in class or course.

1. Make it clear why you’re doing this

1. Make it clear why you’re doing this2. Use interesting questions

1. Make it clear why you’re doing this2. Use interesting questions3. Circulate during question

1. Make it clear why you’re doing this2. Use interesting questions3. Circulate during question4. Focus on reasoning in wrap-up

1. Make it clear why you’re doing this2. Use interesting questions3. Circulate during question4. Focus on reasoning in wrap-up5. Ask for student reasoning in

wrap-up

1. Make it clear why you’re doing this2. Use interesting questions3. Circulate during question4. Focus on reasoning in wrap-up5. Ask for student reasoning in wrap-

up6. Careful about motivating with

points (can backfire)

up6. Careful about motivating w/ points

(can backfire)

1. Circulate and eavesdrop

(can backfire)

1. Circulate and eavesdrop2. Give incentives (candy?)

(can backfire)

1. Circulate and eavesdrop2. Give incentives (candy?)3. Create a safe environment

Clickers can change your classroom!

Action Plan

• Take a few minutes to write down your action plan to implement ideas you heard about in the webinar, and email it to yourself!

Thank you!

Feel free to contact me at stephanie@sciencegeekgirl.com, and visit my blog at

http://blog.sciencegeekgirl.com

More resources at http://STEMclickers.colorado.edu

More webinars from i>clicker at http://bit.ly/19n2oEX

Handouts at

Clickers 101: A Primer for College Faculty Dr. Stephanie V. Chasteen Science Education Initiative,...

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