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Best Practices in Clicker Use
The Gentle Art of Questioning
Dr. Stephanie V. Chasteen Science Education InitiativeUniv. of Colorado at Boulder
http://colorado.edu/sei&
Dustin Jenseni>clicker
Email: [email protected]
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Have you used response systems (clickers) in your teaching?
A. Not at all, and I haven’t seen them used
B. Not at all, but I’ve observed their use somewhat
C. I’ve used them a littleD. I’ve used them someE. I could be (should be?) giving this
workshop
Take a clicker & turn Take a clicker & turn it onit on
If the green light If the green light flashes, your flashes, your vote has been countedvote has been counted
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Why question?
whiteboardCredit: Rosie Piller
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But not a magic bullet!
Clickers are a tool for questioning
Don’t confuse the pedagogy with the technology!The perfect question doesn’t solve all problems!
Remember:
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Collect Demographic Data
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Why Clickers?
Oh, it
’s jus
t
more
techno
logy?
Anothe
r
expens
e for
my
studen
ts…
Doesn’
t fit
my tea
ching
style…
I’ll l
ose
studen
t
intera
ction…
I have
too
much m
ateria
l
to cov
er…
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Are students paying attention to your lecture?
What is the typical attention span of a student while listening to a lecture?
A CB D
30 minutes
15 minutes
45 minutes
60 minutes
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Are you surprised?
Various studies show that after 10-20 minutes, students’ minds begin to wander and retention of information falls off dramatically.
Taking notes and asking questions occupies only 49% of the students’ time during lecture;the remainder is spent thinking about people, time, body, and fantasy.
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The need for clickers…
Reset the students clocks
Receive immediate feedback
Promotes participation and active learning
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Benefits of Clickers
Get students participating
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Identify student knowledge
2 way communication tool
Peer instruction
Clicker points
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Use clickers to emphasize important points
Students may not pay attention to what you feel is important; they pay attention to what they think is
important.
VS.
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Should I give students clicker points?
The learning process is enhanced when students are not overly anxious to participate, so low-stakes grading is advised.
The learning process is enhanced when students are not overly anxious to participate, so low-stakes grading is advised.
Don’t make your class a stressful environment!
Example: .7 for
participating .3 for
correct answer
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Why use clickers to ask questions?
Similar goals to non-clicker questions
Anonymous (to peers)Every student has a voice – the loud ones and the shy ones
Forced wait timeYou can withhold the answer until everyone has had time to think (choose when to show the histogram)
What does this tool help us to do?
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Best Practices
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What do students like least about clickers?
A. High stake questions B. Only used on occasionC. Used for attendance onlyD. Seeing the same question types over and
overE. All of the above
A. Used for attendance only
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If you must take attendance…
Take attendance without your students knowing...
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What do students like most about using clickers?
A. Provides anonymityB. Promotes participation and active learning
C. A way to earn extra pointsD. Everyone has a voice (at least a clicker voice)
E. All of the aboveB. Promotes participation and active learning
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University of New Mexico
Research shows that fewer than half of 18-25
year olds learn effectively by
passively listening to a
lecture.
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How do students learn?
Most people learn by -
actively engaging critical concepts, applying those concepts, and confronting their misconceptions about the subject matter.
These actions are effectively done in lecture settings by breaking up lecture time with
“clicker questions.”
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Peer Instruction
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Why use clickers to target the class?
An outline of Peer Instruction.
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A quick outline of peer instruction
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Ask Question
Peer Discussion
Vote
Class Discussion
…Lecture… (Maybe vote)
* See also: Peer Instruction, A User’s Manual. E. Mazur.
Anatomy of Peer Instruction
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Given that a large tree grows from a tiny seed, where does most of the mass of
the solid tissues in the tree come
from?
A. WaterB. Dirt and
Soil C. AirD. It’s already in
the seed
Peer Instruction
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Peer Instruction Helps Students Learn
Research shows that:Students like peer instructionStudents can better answer a similar question after
talking to their peersPeer discussion + instructor explanation works better
than either one alonePeer instruction outperforms traditional lectures on a
common test
See http://STEMclickers.colorado.edu for various references
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Ask Question
Peer Discussion
Vote
Class Discussion
…Lecture… (Maybe vote)
* See also: Peer Instruction, A User’s Manual. E. Mazur.
Burning questions?
A. Writing good questionsB. Getting students to really think about the questionsC. The same students always respond in whole class
discussionD. It takes too long / I have a lot of content to coverE. Something else
I think the toughest thing about using clickers and peer instruction
in class is / will be:
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Ask Question
Peer Discussion
Vote
Class Discussion
…Lecture… (Maybe vote)
* See also: Peer Instruction, A User’s Manual. E. Mazur.
Focusing in on question-writing
Some possible question goals
Credit: Rosie Piller and Ian Beatty.
BEFORESetting up instruction
BEFORESetting up instruction
E.g.:MotivateAssess prior knowledge… (handout!)
DURINGDeveloping knowledge
ApplicationElicit misconception…
AFTER Assessing learning
Relate to big pictureDemonstrate success…
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Example question: Physics
Which superpower would you rather have? The ability to…
A.Change the mass of thingsB.Change the charge of thingsC.Change the magnetization of thingsD.Change the boiling point of things
Question: Ian Beatty, UNC Greensboro Image: Thibault fr on Wikimedia
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What is the goal of this question? When might you use it?
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The Technology Enhanced Learning and Research center at Ohio State
Example question: Literature
If Homer wrote the Iliad today, Stanley Fish and Harold Bloom would argue, respectively, whether the work should be categorized as:
A.Existential vs. RomanticB.Postmodern vs ClassicalC.Modern vs RomanticD.Postcolonial vs ModernE.Preliterate vs Postliterate
Origin unknown
What is the goal of this question? When might you use it?
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Example question: Ethics
If you were a judge, how would you assess the “responsibility” of the U.S. Government, for what happened in the world between 1933 and 1945?
A.Not responsibleB.Minimally responsibleC.ResponsibleD.Very responsible
Origin unknown
What is the goal of this question? What is the level of this question?
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Use questions at a variety of cognitive depthDo the questions you use
intellectually challenge your students or simply assess their
factual knowledge?
Higher order
----------------
Lower orderhandout
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Example question: English
The child apprized her father's authority and behaved herself in church. Apprized means
A.Appreciated B.Compromised C.Defied D.Noted
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Example question: Math
Your sister in law calls to say that she’s having twins. Which of the following is the most likely? (Assume she’s having fraternal, not identical, twins)
A.Twin boysB.Twin girlsC.One girl and one boyD.All are equally likely
Derek Bruff, Vanderbilt
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Question-writing tips
Use questions with a variety of pedagogical goalsUse questions at a mixture of cognitive depthMove away from simple quizzes: use questions that prompt discussion
Use questions that emphasize reasoning or processAsk challenging questions – don’t just test memorized facts
Focus on key learning goals – what do you want them to know?
Use clear wordingUse tempting distracters
See handout
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Effective multiple-choice questions have believable “distracters.”
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1. Talking with other instructors that have taught the course in the past.
2. Talking with your students one-on-one before class, after class, during office hours.
3. Using student responses to open-ended questions that you include in HW and exams.
4. Asking your students to come up with answers that will be used as the choices.
5. Use researched and documented student misconceptions.
D. Duncan, Univ. of Colorado
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An example question
A. The change in the earth’s distance from the sun during the year
B. The tilt of the earths axisC. Changes in the sun’s brightnessD. Changes in cloudsE. None of the above
Bad question. Students can answer by
memorizing a word (“tilt”)
Can we make a better question on the SAME topic? Yes…
What causes the seasons?
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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 seasonsB. The seasons would remain pretty much
as they are todayC. Winter to spring would differ much
less than nowD. Winter to spring would differ much
more than nowMuch better question. Requires reasoning!
Better seasons example
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Exercise: Try writing a question
1. Individually, choose one of the question goals (see handout)
2. Write a draft question that aims to achieve this goal. See the detailed “Bloom’s Taxonomy” handout for helpful verbs.
5 min5 min
1. Use the Bloom’s Taxonomy worksheet to rate the Bloom’s level of your question
2. Swap your question with a neighbor. Do you agree on the Bloom’s level of your question? Can you suggest improvements?
Then…
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What was the Bloom’s level of your question?
A. RememberingB. UnderstandingC. ApplyingD. AnalyzingE. Evaluating
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Share out
What did you learn in this process?What worked well, what was challenging?How might you go about writing questions in your class?
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Gallery Walk
Look at the “example questions” sets on the wall.
What do these three questions have in common? Jot any ideas down on the sheet.
Might you use this type of question? When? For what purpose?
10 minutes10 minutes
Aihofanz2010 on Wikimedia
Some question strategies to consider
Use a series of questions Rather than a set of one-offs.
Use real-life scenarios and current events for surveysTo keep lessons fresh and relevant
Ask predictive questionsSo students have a chance to weigh in first. More important for understanding than recall questions, but used less often
Use images in question choicesTo give students a chance to connect words and visual/graphic
Pose summarizing questionsTo get students thinking about effects. Pose a series of outcomes and vote on consequences
Sidney-Eve Matrix on the ActiveClass
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But…
The perfect question doesn’t solve all problems!
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Some “best practices” and solutions
Underlying philosophy to most of these “best practices” are:
“It is important for students to discuss their ideas, to feel safe doing so, and for the teacher to be aware of those ideas”
We’ll do these quicklyThese are repeated in handouts
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1. Ask Question
What are some challenges/ things to consider when posing a clicker question?
Handout/worksheet / whiteboard
•Ask several times during lecture•Ask challenging, meaningful questions•Give time to read (read silently to self)
•Ask several times during lecture•Ask challenging, meaningful questions•Give time to read (read silently to self)
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2. Peer Discussion
Why is peer discussion important?
• Students learn more deeply by teaching each other• Makes them articulate answer• Lets you see inside their heads
• Students learn more deeply by teaching each other• Makes them articulate answer• Lets you see inside their heads
•Make it clear why you’re doing this• Circulate and ask questions / model•Use questions they want to discuss•Allow enough time (2-5 mins)•Focus on reasoning in wrap-up
•Make it clear why you’re doing this• Circulate and ask questions / model•Use questions they want to discuss•Allow enough time (2-5 mins)•Focus on reasoning in wrap-up
What are challenges / how can you help make it work?
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3. Wrap-Up Discussion
Challenges?What might you do to facilitate an effective wrap-up discussion?
•Establish culture of respect•Consider whether to show the histogram immediately• Ask multiple students to defend their answers• Why are wrong answers wrong and why right answer is right
•Establish culture of respect•Consider whether to show the histogram immediately• Ask multiple students to defend their answers• Why are wrong answers wrong and why right answer is right
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Student buy-in is key!
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Giving the answer stops student thinking!
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Action Plan
Take a few minutes to write down your action plan to implement ideas you heard about in the workshop
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Thank you!
http://STEMclickers.colorado.eduClicker resource page
Email me at [email protected]
• Instructor’s Guide• Question banks• Workshops• Literature / Articles•Videos
Many materials in this workshop (particularly the questioning cycle and the participant exercises) were adapted from Rosie Piller, Making Students Think: The Art of Questioning. Short papers published in: Computer Training & Support Conference, 1995; ISPI International Conferences, 1991 and 1996; ASTD National Conference on Technical & Skills Training, 1990. Related workshop description at http://www.educationexperts.net/nstworkshop.html Other materials (particularly sample clicker questions and goals of clicker questions) adapted from Ian Beatty’s Technology Enhanced Formative Assessment (TEFA) program. http://ianbeatty.com/crs
Many materials in this workshop (particularly the questioning cycle and the participant exercises) were adapted from Rosie Piller, Making Students Think: The Art of Questioning. Short papers published in: Computer Training & Support Conference, 1995; ISPI International Conferences, 1991 and 1996; ASTD National Conference on Technical & Skills Training, 1990. Related workshop description at http://www.educationexperts.net/nstworkshop.html Other materials (particularly sample clicker questions and goals of clicker questions) adapted from Ian Beatty’s Technology Enhanced Formative Assessment (TEFA) program. http://ianbeatty.com/crs
Handouts will be at http://blog.sciencegeekgirl.com
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Learning Goals
Biology: Recognize the components of a cell and describe why each is necessary for the function of a cell
Physics: Identify the different ways that light can interact with an object (i.e., transmitted, absorbed, reflected).
Chemistry: Explain trends in boiling points in terms of intermolecular interactions
Earth science: Understand the formation of the three major types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic) and the processes by which they form, relating them by the rock cycle.
Math: Solve a system of linear equations in two variables using algebra or graphing.
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What Do I do if…?
What can you do if you ask questions and..There is no responseThe same people keep raising their hands
The answers are called out before everyone has a chance to think
The answers take too longSomeone gives a wrong answerOnly some students are prepared?
We’ll discuss in Workshop #2.
For now: Many of these challenges are addressed by clickers
We’ll discuss in Workshop #2.
For now: Many of these challenges are addressed by clickers
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Other question types and methodologies
• Use a combination of simple and more complex questions.
• The best questions focus on concepts that involve challenging ideas that generate discussion.
- Dr. Douglas Duncan University of Colorado
• Use a combination of simple and more complex questions.
• The best questions focus on concepts that involve challenging ideas that generate discussion.
- Dr. Douglas Duncan University of Colorado
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Discover misconceptions
Dr. Stephen Ball- University of Missouri - Columbia
Dr. Stephen Ball- University of Missouri - Columbia
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Women Only
Which body type to you think men are most attracted to?
A B C D E F
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Men Only
Which body type are you most attracted to?
A B C D E F
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Men Only
Which body type to you think women are most attracted to?
A B C D E F
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Women Only
Which body type are you most attracted to?
A B C D E F
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Debates and Discussion
In today’s world a ‘culture of death’ is gaining supremacy over a ‘culture of life.’
Utilize your demographic data
Call o
f
Duty
Aborti
on
SAW
1000 w
ays
to die
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Use clickers to build critical thinking skills
Gamze Yasar - EconomicsColorado State University
- 4 questions per lecture
- 2 questions are critical thinking questions - not graded- 2 questions based on lecture - graded
Keep students involved all semester long - not just the first two weeks.
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Should I give participation points only?
Dana Narter - Psychology- University of Arizona
- Students may not make an effort to answer correctly if they are awarded points for participation only.
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I want the truth, and nothing but the truth!!
Law - Criminal Justice - Med - Nursing - Sociology
Ask moral, legal, or ethical questions
Use anonymous polling
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