What do students say about clickers?

Focus Groups

Questions: We asked students to report their experiences using clickers. We asked them if they thought clickers were an effective way to learn, whether they would take future classes requiring clickers, and whether they would change anything about the clickers.

Responses: Students overwhelmingly reported positive educational benefits: clickers engaged the class and helped students focus during lectures, encouraged attendance and participation, aided retention, and helped exam preparation. Some disagreed about the best kinds of clicker questions and others expressed reservations about the cost of clickers, but no student disliked clickers and all indicated they would be excited about using them again.

Students also found incentive to attend class because the class was more engaging, reporting that clicker sessions heightened their attention ("definitely forces you to pay attention"), provided a "break" in the lectures ("it's good to get a little break from the lecture. It just kind of gets boring you know people space out. So it's like 'ok, get your clickers out.... Answer a question' -- and everyone does it... It's kind of interactive... It's good.") and solicited their participation ("I think it helps in a class this size: every single person can participate if they have a clicker. Professor asks a question and, instead of one person answering it, everybody gets to have a part in the class... helps participation.")

All students said clicker questions provided them an opportunity to assess their comprehension of the material and prepare for tests: "Everyone in the class has the chance, the opportunity to answer [the clicker question], see the results, and go over it." One student saw value in being immediately quizzed on course concepts: "pounding it into your head right when you're learning it helps." The consensus was that being quizzed in class on course topics helped retention: "Anyone with the notes can grasp a concept 12 hours later when you're at a class but it kind of forces you to go back into your notes and understand it right when you learn it and I thought that helped me at least remember it better right off the start than to try to go back and remember stuff."

Here's what else students had to say about clickers:

Clickers improved class participation.

"I think it helps in a class like this size. Every single person can participate if they have a clicker."

"When the professor asks a question ... instead of one person answering it, everybody gets to have a part in the class"

"It helps participation."

"I think it makes you more involved in the class. And I definitely understand the concepts more than in just explaining them. Because I might miss it because I'm not paying attention. And then like I can grasp onto it better by answering the question."

"It helps you get more involved. Helps you understand concepts better. And it's just different that I'd never done anything like that in a class before.   It's kind of interesting."

Clickers helped students pay attention in class.

"It definitely forces you to pay attention too. Cause you don't know what he's going to ask and if you zone out for a minute, you miss it."

"Helps keep you focus...everyone in the class has the chance, the opportunity to answer it, see the results, go over it... that helps you out a lot, keeps you focused."

"It's good to get a little break from the lecture. It just kind of gets boring you know people space out. So it's like 'ok, get your clickers out.... Answer a question." And everyone does it. It's kind of interactive. It's good."

Clickers helped students retain what they learned.

"It kind of forces you to go back to your notes and understand it right when you learn it and I thought that helped me at least remember it better right off from the start."

Clickers helped students to better evaluate their own learning.

"It helps me figure out what I need to study."

"Like when the prof asks a clicker question in class and you don't know what the heck he's even talking about, it helps you figure out what you need to do, so you can do better on the test, instead of like not finding out until the day of the exam that you don't get it."

"If you come to class and you try to answer all the clicker questions, if you know it, you're gonna get a perfect score on the test."

"To me it helps to know what you need to know."

Clickers improved class attendance.

"I actually came to class one time when I wasn't going to because of the clickers."

"It makes you come to class more."

Clickers improved student learning.

"It's definitely worth it. Helps you learn more."

"You have to understand a broader concept. It's not just you know asking a knowledge question like the name of a person or something. You have to understand a concept."

"I don't know if a whole lot of people are used to more like conceptual questions you know like having a broader view or general like knowledge of something rather than like you know one question that's just a knowledge answer it's like applying it to something it gets ready for the test."