Students Who Use ‘Clickers’ Score Better On Physics Tests
If, like me, you don’t already know what a clicker is and how it’s used, read this (buried nine paragraphs in) first:
In clicker classes, multiple choice questions appear on a large computer screen at the front of the lecture hall. Students hold the wireless devices, which resemble small calculators. They cast their votes for the correct answer based on their understanding of the part of the lecture that was just given. A bar graph shows the percentage of students voting for each answer.
The first third of the story will make more sense once you have this information.
We use these somewhat often in our corporate training courses of various subjects. They increase engagement from the students because they’re being forced to respond (as opposed to all info going in one direction from the teacher to the students). So, they not only pay better attention, but they retain it better because they know they could be asked to respond at any time.
It also has a parallel effect of giving the instructor immediate feedback, hence alllowing him/her to adjust their delivery midstream and spend additional time on those topics with which the students seem to be struggling.
Thanks for posting on this. I’m going to share the article with my boss and some collegues. It’s always nice when the director asks why we pay for such things to have some science to support our anecdotal accounts. 🙂
Cheers.