Mark Lucas

How often do you use clickers in your class?

The clickers are an integral part of the lecture format. They are used every day that I am presenting material (they are not used on quiz days). I may have anywhere from 1 to 10 questions during a 50-minute lecture, depending on the material

How many questions do you give during a typical lecture?

Questions are scattered throughout lecture in places where they seem to best fit. Most often, I will introduce or discuss a topic, then have the students answer a question regarding the material. This question may be geared toward "making sure they got it", "giving them a chance to practice", or perhaps applying material they just learned in making a transition to the next topic. Sometimes I will ask students to predict the result of a demonstration which I then present. I try to integrate these questions as tightly into the flow of the lecture as possible.

Do students work together before answering or do they answer without consulting classmates?

I do not use a formal "Think, Pair, Share" format where I ask each question twice. I encourage students to discuss the question from the start, and only seldom ask them to not discuss their answer.

Do you keep track of students' individual responses?

A participation component of 4-10% is included in a course where I use the student feedback (Physics 200 series is typically 4% and Physical Science 105 is 10%). Some colleagues teaching Physics 250 have found that students remain engaged even without the feedback being a formal part of their grade. In large part I feel this is due to a belief on the part of the students and the instructor that this in-class practice helps.

Do you assign clicker points?

I have a somewhat contorted grading scheme that I have been using from the start. It emphasizes participation while minimizing the negatives.
Students receive 3 points for a correct answer and 2 points for a wrong answer. This gives some motivation to get the correct answer but not so much they they fight over every question. Since I expect them to miss a few days (doctor appointments, excused absences, etc...) and certainly miss a number of questions, I discard the top 25% of the score. If a student scored 75% or better, that is a sign to me that they were participating. Scores below 75% are pro-rated.

What results/benefits do you observe in using clickers?

I see a number of benefits in class. The most straight forward statement would be that anything I can get the students to think about and process benefits them much more than something I just tell them. It's quite exciting to walk around the room for a minute and hearing them discussing the physics and arguing with each other about the answers. The students also tend to see this benefit, particularly when an instructor makes it clear they believe in the technique and they have done a good job of integrated the questions into the format (not just piling in questions for the sake of having questions).

How have students responded to the use of clickers? Do your students think clickers benefit them?

While a number of lower tech solutions can be used, the anonymous nature of the responses in combination with the accountability and display an immediate graph of responses make it worth the investment in learning how to use the technology. Students not only see if they got the answer right, but they realize that they may not be the only one struggling with the material (or conversely, realize that most of the class has it down).

Do you collect any student data about how they felt about using clickers in your class?

I do not formally collect any data on the response system, but informal mid-quarter evaluations and end-of-quarter evaluations usually have a large number of positive comments regarding the response system.

What are the biggest challenges to using clickers effectively?

The biggest challenge is dealing with the technology. Always have a backup. If the system really isn't working (which is very seldom), don't
worry about going to a pencil and paper mode for the day. Have students write down their answers, cross out a wrong answer, and hand in the papers at the end. Clicker batteries will periodically die. Be prepared to swap out batteries or temporarily assign a replacement (I keep a piece of paper for each day that I can write substitute numbers on).

What advice do you have about using clickers?

You need to take time learn how to use the software. Make sure you can get through the full cycle: creation of questions, collecting of answers, and
extraction of scores.

What sorts of questions do you find are most effective for clicker sessions?

As far as question creation, the key in my mind is to keep it natural and pertinent. Look for places in your lecture where you'd naturally like to
have them process some information, where you need to expose a misconception many of them have, or where they simply need some practice.

How would you advise someone who would like to begin using clickers in a course?

A good way to get started is to use the clickers for in-class review sessions. This can be done without assigning numbers to individual
students and can help you get used to the system. Once you're comfortable, you can explore making it a more integral part of your course.
That said, plenty of people manage to just dive in and hit the ground running.