Alycia L. Stigall

How you use clickers in your classroom?

Clicker use is an integral part of my daily class in Geology 101.  I typically will ask between five and nine total questions grouped into two or three different sets of questions.  All clicker questions are designed to require conceptual thinking, but this is implemented in several different ways.  Students are sometimes asked questions prior to lecturing a topic, to help them understand the limits of their knowledge--such as "What percentage of the Earth's history has included multicellular animals?" (about 12%)  Other questions will ask students to implement newly learned concepts, such as predicting which rock layer is most likely to contain an petroleum reservoir.  Depending on the questions, students either answer singly or discuss the topic with their neighbors.

Do you keep track of students' individual responses?

I keep track of the number of questions each student answers in a given week for a class participation score.  Since questions are designed to foster student thinking, correctness is not considered in the participation score.

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

The feedback that I have received from students in my course has been overwhelmingly positive.  Students enjoy the ability to try out ideas and learn from mistakes.  Other students have suggested that they are much more likely to attend lectures and seem to appreciate the extra grade incentive to attend.  Clicker participation score determines 15% of their course grade.

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

I have found that the most effective use of clickers is with conceptual questions or applications of concepts.  For example, I asked students how many 75% complete skeletons of Tyrannosaurus rex they thought existed (only about 12), then I asked students how many fossil clam shells of a particular species they thought existed (10,000's).  Most students were wrong on both answers. Then we discussed the differences between predators/herbivores and living on land vs. ocean for preservation. Afterwards, I asked students to apply this knowledge to choose which type of other fossils from a list would be most common.  Students almost unanimously choose the correct fossil type.

What advice do you have about using clickers?

My main advice for new clicker users is to be consistent with your students.  Ask comparable types of questions, create a special slide background (this provides students a visual cue to pick up their clickers), and make sure you employ clicker questions daily.  If you are not excited about using the clickers to foster learning, your students will not be either.