Using Clickers in the Classroom

Abstract

Instructors often search for ways to increase student engagement and participation during class. Learning Response Systems, known colloquially as clickers, are one potential solution. Research shows students perceive clickers positively (Han & Finklestein, 2013) and that clickers facilitate learning and engagement (Morling et al., 2008; Hake, 1998). To see if clickers had similar positive effects in my classroom, I solicited feedback from the 108 students in my Introduction to Psychology course. During the Fall 2020 semester, I used the Acadly clicker app to take attendance, ask multiple choice poll questions to gain insight into which topics students understood, and conducted discussions via the app to help ensure social distancing. 55 of those students provided feedback. Overall, students agreed Acadly facilitated learning (M = 6.15 on a 7-point scale) and engagement (M = 6.24), and that it helped them to participate in the large lecture class in a less stressful/anxiety-producing manner (M = 6.37). Resources/References For more information on Acadly, see: https://www.acadly.com/ or their help page: https://help.acadly.com/en/ Hake, R. R. (1998). Interactive-engagement vs. traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses. American Journal of Physics, 66, 64–74. Han, J. H., & Finkelstein, A. (2013). Understanding the effects of professors' pedagogical development with Clicker Assessment and Feedback technologies and the impact on students' engagement and learning in higher education. Computers & Education, 65, 64-76. Morling, B., McAuliffe, M., Cohen, L., & DiLorenzo, T. M. (2008). Efficacy of personal response systems (“clickers”) in large, introductory psychology classes. Teaching of Psychology, 35(1), 45-50.