Clickers 201: Creating Effective Questions In Any Discipline

Dr. Jeff LoatsPhysics Department

MSCD

Christy CummingsBehavioral Sciences

CCD

“The one who does the work does the learning”

– Terry Doyle

Are you currently using clickers (a classroom response system) in your courses?

A) I have never used them.

B) I have used them before, but don’t currently.

C) I use them currently in at least one class.

In (roughly) what area do you teach?

A) Humanities

B) Natural sciences & mathematics

C) Professions & applied sciences

D) Social sciences

E) Teacher education

• Quick/easy attendance in large class sizes.

• Provides anonymity (Banks, 2006).

• Every student participates (Banks, 2006).

• Encourages active learning (Martyn, 2007).

• Improved concentration (Hinde & Hunt, 2006)

• Improved learning and retention (Moreau, 2010).

• Improved exam scores (Poirier & Feldman, 2007)

• Efficient use of class time (Anderson, et al. 2011).

• Engages students in metacognition.

Evidence For Effectiveness

The Physics Education Revolution

• About ~20 years ago, physics teachers began treating education as a research topic!

• Their findings: Grim!

• Eric Mazur (Harvard) found:

"But the students do fine on my exams!"

From Mazur, New Faculty Workshop presentation, 2004

How Do Others Do?

Conclusion: Traditional physics lectures are all similarly (in)effective in improving conceptual understanding.

6

Did It Work for Mazur?

Mazur after 1 year of using Peer Instruction• This is a big

jump in conceptualunderstanding.

• Is this just about new energy being put into an old class?(This is a difficult confounding factor in assessing new teaching techniques.)

Does It Work For Others?

• This method wasthen used in classesall over the countrywith impressiveresults all around.

• A conceptuallyfocused class withresponsibility placedon students creates improved conceptual gains.

• The evidence indicates that problem solving skills are improved when time is devoted to concepts.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

A Hierarchy of Thinking Skills (1956)

6) Evaluation

5) Synthesis

4) Analysis

3) Application

2) Comprehension

1) Knowledge

Types of clicker questions:Factual Recall

• Can occasionally serve as a reading quiz or as a lecture diagnostic.

• Students rate these questions as much less valuable compared to harder, deeper questions.

• If these are “high-stakes,” technical difficulties become even more problematic.

What is the correct expression for the area of a circle?

A) e ∙ r

B) e ∙ r2

C) π ∙ d

D) π ∙ r2

E) π ∙ r

Example Question:Factual Recall

Types of clicker questions:Vote-Share-Vote, a.k.a. Peer Instruction

• Challenging conceptual questions (40-60% correct on 1st try).

• Students vote individually (after time to think).

• “Turn to your neighbor and convince them.”

• Students vote again, post discussion

• Class-wide discussion and elaboration

Example Question:Vote-Share-Vote, a.k.a. Peer Instruction

Two identical blocks are connected by a lightweight cord that runs through a light pulley. They are held in the positions shown. When released, the blocks will end up

A) at their current heights.

B) at equal heights.

C) with block 1 on the ground.

D) with block 2 on the ground.

1

2

Types of clicker questions:Polling/Survey

• Polls or surveys provide a way for students to express their opinion on topics, when they otherwise might remain quiet.

• Polls or surveys can be used as a comparison with statistics in the text.

• Students enjoy voting on controversial topics. The classroom can quickly become more animated after viewing the results.

Is there a colleague in your department that you think should not have received tenure, or should not have their contract renewed?

A)Yes

B)No

Example Question:Polling/Survey

Do you feel you were treated fairly at all levels of review when you had your most recent professional review (renewal, tenure, promotion, etc.)?

A)Yes

B)No

Example Question:Polling/Survey

First vote: Women onlySecond vote: Men only

Types of clicker questions:Poll-Teach-Poll

• Polling first (without showing the results), then teaching, then polling again allows tracking of changes in student attitudes or opinions.

• Can enhance critical thinking (analyzing, evaluating).

• Increases metacognition (partner/peer share).

• Provides quick checks on knowledge and understanding of material.

Which best describes your feelings about female circumcision/FGM?

A)I am writing letters to the WHO to protest.

B)“To each their own.” We shouldn’t interfere with another culture.

C)What is the big deal? Males around the world are circumcised.

D)I don’t know anything about FGM.

Example Question:Poll-Teach-Poll

Types of clicker questions:Thought Questions

1. Start by choosing a learning goal to assess.

2. Develop an open-ended application/prediction question for the goal.

3. Present the question, organize groups of 3-4 students and allow 5-7 minutes for discussion.

4. One group presents their answer and rationale.

5. Class votes on rationale: Agree/Disagree/Don’t know.

6. If the majority of the class disagrees, another group gets to offer their answer and rationale.

7. Repeat 5 & 6 until the majority agrees.

Example Question:Thought Questions

Endocrinology:

What would you predict would happen to the ovulatory frequency if one ovary were removed?

Immunology:

Given that all blood cell types derive from the pluripotent hemopoietic stem cell, why are there so many

different types of cells in the immune system?

(discussions like this can be used to generate choices for more standard clicker questions)

Types of clicker questions:Thought Questions

Created by T. Foley & Pei-San Tsai in the CU Integrative Physiology Department

Google “thought questions CU-SEI” or use http://goo.gl/SWhvW

Types of clicker questions:Teach-Test-Review or Teach-Test-Retest

• Questions focus on measurable skills that are the learning outcomes of the lesson.

• Use as a diagnostic for the instructor and as formative assessment for the student.

• Repeated testing does show benefits compared to repeated studying.(Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).

Creating Questions: Write

• Choose a topic from a course you teach regularly, then choose a question type and a Bloom’s dimension.

• Write a question to fit those criteria. Use the Bloom’s verbs. (Write another if you have time.)

• In ~5 minutes we will ask you to share with your neighbor…

Creating Questions: Share

• Form a pair or group.

• Without preamble, ask your colleague(s) to answer your question. Then discuss it:

– Which type of question do they think it is.

– What Bloom’s dimension do they think it is?

• Choose one question to share with the whole room. (Good/bad/interesting/tough.)

Clickers: Best Practices and Pitfalls

• Sell it: Be explicit with students about why you are using clickers.

• Be consistent: Have clicker questions in nearly all classes.

• Engage students: Let students explain often, focus on wrong answers.

• Demonstrate value: Exams/papers should reflect ideas from clicker questions.

• Give credit: Clickers should be 2%-15% of grade. Grade on participation… mostly.

Thanks!• References are listed on the handout.

• Contact: Jeff Loats, Jeff.Loats@gmail.comChristy Cummings,

Christy.Cummings@ccd.edu

A copy of this presentation is online atwww.slideshare.net/jeffloats