We tried another training class when Cricket was a year and a half old. She’d been getting bad reports from the groomers for biting and general recalcitrance, and Mom had heard about this teacher from a friend of a friend and we decided to make the effort to try again.

The new teacher ran her school out of a small store front. The floor was rubbery and easy to clean, and the room was big enough to take six dogs per class with two owners each, with a row of chairs for the non participating owners.

The teacher had a long haired German shepherd who came in for the first class to demonstrate what the training could accomplish. He stayed quietly in his crate until he was called. She showed us how they played tug of war with a flexible flying saucer, but as soon as she said drop it, he did, and sat down like a gentleman. Then she showed us some of his tricks, like being shot and playing dead and coming back to life. But most of all she showed us that he listened to her. He was well behaved and happy. She never yelled at him or, God forbid, hit him, or sprayed him with a water bottle.

She talked about how to teach a behavior by capturing it as it happened and naming it and rewarding it. So instead of forcing him into a sit or lie down, she’d wear her treat bag and click when he did what she wanted and name the behavior until he recognized the name.

She wore the treat bag attached to her belt loop. It looked like a mini-fanny pack, but she wore it in front so she could reach the treats easily. She showed us how to press the clicker and immediately feed the treats to the dog to reward the correct behavior.

I already felt like a failure before the class started, because most of the other students were continuing on directly from puppy class in the fall. Cricket was older than the other dogs, but she didn’t mind. She’s not much of a shame puppy.

There was a Golden Retriever, who liked to roll over into submissive position every few minutes, and a German shepherd who wore a kerchief at his neck. There was a black lab, second to the Golden in submissiveness, but more playful. And then there was the Mastiff, this enormous bull of a dog, with a chain collar around his neck, because he was stronger than both of his parents. His bark was deep and loud, especially in the small room. And then there was Cricket, the oldest and smallest dog in the class.

The teacher sent us home with a list of things to buy, including a new harness for Cricket, which would be our third attempt to switch over to a harness from a collar and leash. Cricket has a Houdini-like talent for escaping the little vests in the middle of the street.

Cricket actually enjoyed training, at home. She loved the treats. We finally discovered one brand of chicken treats that worked every time, even when everything else was hit or miss, so we bought in bulk. But once we got to class, it was as if the treats had gone rancid, even though I’d cleaned the treat bag and filled it with fresh treats right before class. Cricket would sit there and pant at me and not hear any of my instructions, and even if she took a treat in her mouth, she’d spit it onto the floor.

Oh, and she climbed out of her new harness within the first few minutes of class.

The teacher called Cricket relentless. It wasn’t a compliment. She also said that I wasn’t holding my ground enough. I wasn’t matching her relentlessness the way I should be.

Cricket learned how to sit and stay and, sometimes, to lie down on command. She learned that she loves chicken treats. I learned that teaching new skills to a reluctant student is torture, and that I’m not good at being consistent. I learned that I hate the sound of the clicker and that I’m not built to be a dog trainer.

My one real success, though, was mat training. I placed the mat on the floor and gave Cricket her treat when she stood on it, even with one paw. Then she got treats for sitting on the mat. Then, she got treats for staying on the mat. Cricket loved this game. She loved the endless treats she could get just for sitting there and staring at me. She could stay on the mat for almost two minutes at a time, as long as I gave her a days worth of treats to make it worth her while, and as long as nothing more exciting came along, like the mailman.

Marcus Valdes

A consistent draw is not a thing in itself, it is a consequence of other things. It is important to distinguish between things “you can do” and things “that just happen.” The perfect example is the followthrough. The bow does what it does based upon the forces acting on it. All you do is let it do its thing. It is not something you do, it is something that happens. Why bother with it at all, the arrow is long gone? Because the bow is telling you what happened to it. If it behaves consistently, you are behaving consistently. If it behaves “correctly,” you are behaving correctly. It is an instant critique of each shot. (There are other reasons, too.)

A consistent draw requires proper and consistent positioning of both hands on the bow and string/release aid. It requires proper and consistent full draw body position. It requires drawing to the same point each time.

So you must focus on each of these in their turn. This is what a shot sequence does for an archer. It lists what is necessary to do and when it is necessary to do it. Can you think of reasons why it would be a bad idea to set your feet . . . last? (I’ll bet you can come up with quite a list.)

Some people think that putting a clicker on their bow will cause them to have a consistent draw length. I think this is backward even though a great many archers were trained this way. (And which is why clickers have the reputation of being pains in the keester.) This is using a clicker to force a consistent draw and, as I said, a consistent draw is a consequence of other actions, not something you want to try to create, so this is a mistake. We suggest that you need a consistent draw before you install a clicker. The test we use is to take a marking pen and ask the student to adopt their full draw position. we then put a dot on their arrow opposite the hole their arrow rest is in (or any other reasonable close recognizable spot). They let down, rest for 15-20 seconds and repeat. When I have 3-5 dots I look to see how far apart those dots are. If the farthest spots are an inch or more apart, no clicker. If the spots are well less than an inch apart, a consistent draw (by feel!) has been achieved and a clicker can be installed.

To achieve a consistent draw, a student needs to pay attention to their hands, their posture at full draw, and their draw hand anchor position. Trying to be consistent in those will result in being consistent in their draw length. A clicker can then make things even more consistent, but realize that we want a consistent draw length with good form, not just by itself. And you now have a test to see if your draw is consistent.

TTYN Readers Worldwide (most frequent in red)

A very big THANK YOU to all of our readers and members of the Peer Instruction Network!

Turn to Your Neighbor was born on February 25, 2012. And today, we turned 30,000 hits old.

Top Three Turn to Your Neighbor Posts

The top three TTYN posts discuss flipped implementation with tips for promoting both out-of and in-class engagement.

1. How do I get my students to prepare before coming to a flipped class?

2. How one professor motivated students to read before a flipped class, and measured their effort

3. To vote or not to vote: Best practices in Peer Instruction

Flipped Tip of the Day Series Launch

To celebrate turning 30,000, we are instituting a Flipped Tip of the Day series on Twitter. Tips will be posted under the hashtag #flippedtip every weekday between 12:00-3:00 Eastern time.

Follow this link to get a rolling list of the tips or view a feed of the tips on Turn to Your Neighbor, on the bottom right hand corner of the screen under: Peer Instruction Tweets.

Tips will disseminate best practices from and for innovative educators everywhere who are working to transform their students’ learning across institutional types, disciplines, subjects, and geographic regions by flipping their classrooms in creative and evidence-based ways.

Inaugural flippedtip

The inaugural tip from Eric Mazur is:

TIP: Promote good #peerinstruction discussion: aim for 30-70% students getting question right b4 discussion #flippedtip http://bit.ly/Olkdv5

Submit your flippedtips!
Have a tip? Enter it on our flippedtip line

1. Transfer of information
2. Making sense of information (accommodating it, according to Piaget.)

Step by step:

1. Ask a question
2. Give students 2 minutes to think in silence
3. Poll them
4. Show the results
5. Have them pair up with a classmate who answered differently and have them try to convince each other. The correct students will rapidly and efficiently convince and explain to the incorrect students, bringing class comprehension up to around 90%. They are better at it than the teacher because they remember very clearly what it was like to not get it.
6. Then repoll the class
7. Then explain and recap any parts they had difficulty with

Clickers only work if they facilitate peer to peer instruction.

It all depends on what questions you ask!

Most multiple choice questions can be solved by elimination = no critical thinking = bad. The question should involve interacting with an image (map? artwork? scientific image? graph?) on the screen.

Move the content transfer to before the class session. If they don’t understand or remember, that’s ok! They didn’t understand or remember lectures either! At least this way you can rectify that problem in class.

This reminds me a LOT of Team Based Learning.

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Click on a rabbit Education Possible Rabbits have pets, especially popular with children. They are fun and can be unpredictable and absolutely love. Animal such as a rabbit do not think most people can be trained successfully. Outside their sheds a problem for some households, it would be of great help to train them to a certain extent when some rabbit is a bit of a nuisance. Sometimes I keep rabbits and as far as children (and rabbits) are affected, as can be the difference between having to give him an unpopular move. Click to training just might be the answer. How to Litter Train a guinea pig guinea pig litter under the impression that many people can not be educated. They are common as well as other guinea pigs as pets is not smart and I think this is why people can not learn anything. The truth is that the guinea pig is very teachable and easy to litter trained. Discount Pet Supply “Tree” Do you offer training? Leash training is a great way to say? Tree? method. To this day do not train your dog to be a good hiking partner!

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Create your classroom, have students log in using the classroom code, and you can have them take the quiz together as a class or on their own. The tool then collects and compiles your data for you!

It’s free, easy, and doesn’t require clickers.

• Select a standard and click “Build an Express Test”
• Select a Curricular Resource, State or District, and click “Build an Express Test”
• Hover over Assessment Admin at the top of the screen and select “Create”
• From the Assessment Dashboard select “Create a Test”

You can also create test items or passages from these locations to be used in multiple assessments and lessons.

No matter how you create your test, you will be able to save it for editing as a word document, .pdf, or put in play for students to take on a computer or with your class clickers.

BERWICK — Teachers in one district in Columbia County are using technology gadgets in the classroom to promote learning.

With interactive questions and a Response Card Keypad, or clicker, some classes in the Berwick Area school district may seem more like a game show.

As students filed in to Mr. Shrader’s physics class at Berwick Area high school, they all made sure to grab a clicker.

They needed quick thinking and fast fingers for the day’s lesson.

The clickers are the latest district-wide initiative to bring more technology, and perhaps fun, into the classroom.

The district ordered more than 600 clickers to be used in some classrooms at all levels, high school, middle school and even elementary.

“It’s basically taking the technical world that we all live in already and putting it in the classroom and the kids know how to use this stuff better than I do most of the time,” said physics teacher Matthew Shrader.

Part of the Turning Point system, during lessons, students answer interactive questions using a Response Card Keypad, or clicker.

“Yeah, it was really easy. You just have to look at the numbers on the board. You pick the numbers on the clicker. I think it`s easier too, cause you`re not so worried about raising your hand and giving the wrong answer, what everyone else thinks of you. No one else knows what you picked. It`s just you so you can try your hardest to get the right answer,” said junior Vanessa Bannon of Berwick.

“It makes it more challenging, kind of. You have to make sure you`re paying attention,” added junior Ashley Charles. “I can`t just goof off in class because I know that I need to answer this.”

The clicker is just the latest example of how technology in the classroom helps both teachers and students.

“It’s not a matter of just more fun. It actually makes life easier for me because I can give formative assessment and diagnostic assessment as I`m walking and talking and going through the lesson. I know right away whether or not the kids get it or not. So if I talk about a subject and I put up a question about it, then I instantly have feedback on the screen what percentage of the class got it right and got it wrong,” said Shrader.

“It shows that times have changed and people are more into computers and stuff like that now instead of the traditional learning,” said sophomore David Rivenbark. “Some classes we use the smart-boards to do math, some classes we use the clickers to answer questions, stuff like that.”

“It kind of makes it a little bit more fun to pay attention in class,” added Charles.

Berwick Area school officials said the more than $35,000 cost for the clickers was included in the district budget.

The district also plans to add even more technology. Some advance placement classes will soon be using iPads.

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As you may well know, pizza is one of my favorite foods.  I am pretty picky when it comes to pizza, and the guys at Clicker’s have just won a new, loyal customer.  This pie was take-out perfection!

As you can see below, their pie is gorgeous…the perfect balance of items to sauce to cheese, and the crust…oh my, the crust…it’s been a while since I had crust this tasty at a commercial pizza place.  It’s just so good, all I can say is that you need to go get some and try it for yourself.  I think you’ll agree – it’s just a superb pie, cooked to perfection!

This pizza has the perfect crust crunch, and the items are super-fresh and delicious…

Mrs. Snausy and I are anxious to try their subs and strombolies – hopefully it will be soon.  I highly recommend Clicker’s – try out “the new guys on the block” – you’ll be pleased, I promise!

Pardon my attempt at an “artsy” shot of this pie – just couldn’t resist…

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It’s the Saturday before school starts for many of us. If you are anything like me, you have had the syllabus that’s going to transform your students’ lives complete for a full 2 months and are kicking back and relaxing on this fine holiday weekend.

Fantasy over.

Many people who are deciding to use flipped classroom techniques, like Peer Instruction or clickers, may be wondering how to describe them on their syllabus. Here is some language for explaining the rationale for your innovations and some scripts you can modify and customize for your class.

Language from Eric’s Electricity and Magnetism Syllabus about Interactive Classrooms and Active Learning 

Learning physics is not simply the acquisition of correct information. Learning requires integrating new information with your own knowledge and experiences, and delivery of information by itself doesn’t help you develop your own understanding of the material. What this means is that I cannot simply ‘transmit’ knowledge to you — you will have to take an active role in the learning process.

 [Here, he describes the rationale for his flipped-like process.] I have written down all the information for the course in the course notes of which are available online. For me to present all that information again in class would be a poor use of your time. If you prepare for class by reading the course notes and letting me know what part you found most difficult, then we can use class time to work together to develop a deeper understanding of the material.

One unsatisfying alternative to building a solid understanding is rote memorization and recall, which invariably leads to boredom and frustration and which has little, if any, lasting value. I don’t want you to worry about having to “remember” lots of information in this course — you are free to consult your notes or book during all work for the course, including all examinations.

Language from my own graduate course on educational theory*

[Describing the rationale for teaching with Peer Instruction]. Collaborative, written and oral communication skills are fundamental to effective practice in higher education. Do a search for almost any higher education job and you will find near verbatim the following phrases as job requirements: Strong interpersonal skills; ability to work in a team setting; strong written and oral communication skills. The following learning opportunities are designed to help you demonstrate these specific skills after the course is complete.

Syllabus Clicker Language From Other Sites

University of North Florida Language
This course will be using the eInstruction student response system. You will need to purchase a clicker (ISBN: 9781881483816) from the bookstore and bring it with you to every class session.The cost of the clicker is $23.75. There is also a $10 activation fee per semester (or $21 for lifetime activation). The purchase of a CPS pad is NOT optional; it will be used as an integral part of this course. I will provide a short demonstration of how to use CPS in class.

Central Michigan University
This course utilizes a learning technology known as a Classroom Response System, commonly referred to as “Clickers”. Your instructor will create presentations that include questions and statements that you will be required to interact with. Your interaction may allow you to earn points for correct answers or general participation. As such, you are required to obtain a specific minimum device to use complete this interaction. This course requires a minimum device of an iPod Touch ~OR~ [Insert Clicker Brand here]

*This is language I used for a course I taught at Teachers College, Columbia University in 2010 

What are they?

Learners response systems can be used to get immediate feedback from large groups of students and support active learning in lectures.

They are more commonly referred to as ‘clickers’ as a reference to the handset which students use to respond to a question or poll. However, the latest systems remove the need for a handset by integrating the use of mobile devices, such as laptops, smart phones and tablets, which students already bring to class.

What is the appeal of these systems?

Standard lectures are often criticised for lacking effectiveness in terms of active learning. Learner response systems offer the potential to supplement traditional lecturing methods with a more communicative approach.

Even with a large class size in a lecture environment, the instructor can use these systems to create an interactive environment. They can be used for getting feedback, providing social interaction, engaging the learners and creating opportunities to respond to students’ needs.

Each student can see or hear a prompt from the instructor at the same time and each student is given the same amount of time to respond. The instructor receives all of the answers simultaneously and can choose whether or not to display the frequency of responses to the class. Each student’s response can be tracked for later review. Responses can be given individually or groups of students can work together to produce a joint response.

How is it used?

The systems are versatile and can to be used to:

• introduce a topic
• check comprehension
• facilitate peer instruction
• gather diagnostic data
• review material
• provide revision practice
• set up a problem based learning scenario

After viewing student responses in class, instructors needed to be flexible about how to proceed. Depending on how many students answer correctly,  instructors could offer further instruction, peer instruction or self-study.

How do the systems compare?

At the University a number of systems have been used in recent years:

Turning Point
The radio frequency technology is limited to a single location but the handsets and receiver permit a wide range of question types to be incorporated into PowerPoint presentations. Contact: email elearning@manchester.ac.uk in the EPS eLearning Team.

ResponseWare
Developed by the same company as Turning Point, it enhances the system by enabling mobile devices to used in addition to handsets, and is not limited to a single location. Contact: Will Moindrot in the Humanities eLearning Team.

mbclick

This system has been developed in-house with the aim of providing registered students with effective feedback directly to their mobile devices. Each session is set up via the mbclick website and is delivered directly to the students’ mobile devices via the website or via PowerPoint.

Benefits of mbclick:

• no need to give handsets to students (or collect them again afterwards!)
• avoid problems with broken handsets and batteries
• not limited to a specific number of handsets
• personalised feedback (the key driver for this mbclick)

Personalised feedback using mbclick

mbclick has the capability to provide feedback for the different responses to each question, so potentially each student could receive different feedback from the same session. This personalised feedback is sent to each student’s digital device and it is also sent via email to those students registered on the system.

What do students and instructors think about mbclick?

Following the trial, students were very positive about mbclick; over 90% of survey respondents indicated that it would improve their overall satisfaction with their programme of study.

Most students (87%) accessed mbclick via the University’s Wi-Fi system, using either a smart phone (64%) or a laptop (17%). A few students participated via SMS enabled mobile phones.

Student comments:

• It really helps to take in the information
• It enables a physical way to participate in the class without having to put your hand up and ask a question.
• It was very enjoyable.
• Made the lecture more interesting as had to participate rather then just listen
• It’s a new experience and the good aspect of it is the lecturer can know what concepts have not been grasped based on response and help us further where need be. I believe that’s very positive.
• I think it was useful using your own device however you are susceptible to distraction with it.
• I think it helps with learning the content because of the specific feedback based on your responses Felt a lot personal and ability to interact more.
• Too much time spent on it and rest of content was rushed
• I didn’t participate because I do not have a smart phone.

Instructor comments:

• It increases the potential for contingent teaching and can be very flexible.
• It’s the best solution as I wouldn’t want to use it if I had to pay for it or carry any handsets.
• Authoring effective questions is a skill as it’s a fine balance between building confidence in your students and giving them a challenge.
• Without this technology there wouldn’t be as much interaction in the class.
• They bring these devices into class anyway, so we may as well be using them for teaching and learning.

If you are interested in learning more about mbclick, including future trials please contact Geoff Rubner.

Alternatively, DIY enthusiasts can create their own learner response system using Google docs and a set of iPod Touch handsets, the video below describes how:

Source: Radford University on YouTube

—————-

Further reading:

Fies and Marshall, 2006, “Classroom Response Systems: A review of the Literature”, Journal of Science Education and Technology vol.15 No.1

Bligh, Donald (1972): “What’s the use of lectures?” 3rd Ed. Penguin, Harmondsworth

A brief outline of each of the sessions is given below. The conference agenda, including abstracts for each of the presentations, is available here and the full conference programme (which was combined with Aarhus University’s ‘Frontiers in Science Teaching’ conference to create a two-day event) may be downloaded here.

Keynote – ‘Turning Lectures into Learning’ (Eric Mazur, Harvard University)

Following a welcome from Michael Broderik, CEO of Turning Technologies, the day opened with a keynote presentation by Professor Eric Mazur, whose ground-breaking teaching method of ‘peer instruction’ has brought him international recognition. He discussed how he developed peer instruction during the early 1990s as a response to the problem of the transmissive nature of traditional lectures, making lectures more interactive by placing students at the centre of their learning and thereby fostering a deeper level of understanding. In brief, the process is that a key conceptual question is posed; without conferring, the students vote for the answer they believe to be correct; they are then invited to discuss their answer amongst themselves in small groups; finally, the poll is taken again to see if more students have been persuaded towards the correct answer by their peers’ explanations. Professor Mazur illustrated his method with several worked examples, including, towards the end of his presentation, one from his teaching in ethics to demonstrate that peer instruction was not applicable exclusively within pedagogical contexts in which there is a definitive answer.

‘Writing good great Exceptional Clicker Questions’ (Siara Isaac, EPFL, Lausanne)

‘Museum Studies Using TurningPoint’ (Mikel Asensio, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Elena Pol, Interpretart)

Then followed the first of three parallel breakout sessions. In an interactive presentation, Siara Isaac invited the audience to write and revise PRS questions to turn them progressively from good, to great, to exceptional questions that nurtured deep-level understanding. Her discussion was informed by common mistakes in the authorship of multiple choice questions, but she also argued that to write exceptional (rather than merely good or great) PRS questions, a more creative approach may be necessary. Meanwhile, in the room next door, Professor Mikel Asensio and Dr Elena Pol discussed their use of personal response systems within museum studies. They noted that the information traditionally provided in museums was often quite weighty (for example, large amounts of printed text mounted on walls) and that this is not particularly engaging or interactive for visitors. As a solution, their institution has taken to using personal response systems to stimulate their guests’ interest in their collections as well as to gather important demographic information about them.

Interaction in Lectures with Mobile Devices (Will Moindrot, University of Manchester)

Using Electronic Voting Systems in the Arts and Humanities (Christopher Wiley, City University London)

After lunch, Will Moindrot discussed the logistical challenges presented by the use of personal response systems in lectures involving large numbers of students (it was particularly interesting to have considered this perspective given that personal response systems are often cited as being a means of dealing effectively with large-group teaching). He reported back on the students’ experiences of the solution implemented at the University of Manchester, namely the use of ResponseWare technology (a good explanation for which is to be found here) to enable students to vote using their own mobile devices without the need to be supplied with a bespoke handset. The concurrent session was my own presentation on using personal response systems in the arts and humanities. I (Dr Christopher Wiley) argued for the potential of PRS to enhance teaching in areas other than the traditional sciences, for instance, by soliciting audience opinion on a contentious point (with the aim of nurturing debate and generating arguments for and against prior to a repoll), or asking ‘subjective’ questions that stimulate discussion among students in that there may be more than one valid or correct answer. My presentation was illustrated by examples drawn from my teaching as a music lecturer who has used PRS for the past four years, as well as feedback received from my students.

‘Diagnostic Processes In General Practice’ (Lars Bjerrum, Copenhagen University)

‘Improving Practice and Addressing Practicalities: Embedding Audience Response Systems at the University of Kent’ (Daniel Clark, University of Kent)

In the final breakout session of the day, Professor Lars Bjerrum explained how personal response systems may be used to illustrate different approaches to the diagnostic process in general practice (as distinct from the diagnostic process within the context of a hospital). Such approaches include pattern recognition and deductive reasoning, and his presentation referred specifically to patients in primary care. Next door, Daniel Clark discussed e-learning strategy at the University of Kent in relation to the use of personal response system technology, which was piloted there five years ago. He spoke about positive feedback received from staff about the pedagogical value of PRS, current practices at the university (for instance, using PRS to facilitate revision sessions), the challenges posed by the embedment of this new technology in teaching and the solutions that were implemented, and the means by which PRS is promoted to staff on a continuing basis through training sessions (see here for further information). His presentation yielded an insight into the strategy of a single higher education institution as well as offering helpful guidance to others seeking to implement similar initiatives within their own contexts.

‘Turning to Your Neighbour’ (Julie Schnell, Harvard University)

The day concluded with a follow-up session exploring peer instruction, led by Dr Julie Schnell, who amplified the specific concept of ‘turning to your neighbour’ which is at the heart of the method. Through worked examples, she discussed the benefits and drawbacks of two fundamental questions relating to its implementation: whether or not to take an initial vote before inviting the students to discuss a given question with their neighbour; and at what stage in the peer instruction process to display the poll results to the audience. Professor Mazur’s opening keynote had already given us experience of some of these different approaches, for instance, revealing the results of the initial poll to us immediately for one question but withholding them for another.

The conference also benefitted from a number of poster presentations, including ‘Adding Value To Your Handsets – Making Video Interactive’ (Sue Palmer, Empowering Confidence) and ‘Clicking Your Way to Research Data’ (Sue McMillen, Buffalo State College). All in all, it was a highly informative event and a valuable opportunity to network with people implementing personal response systems in a variety of technology-enabled teaching settings, and to share thoughts, practices, and solutions.

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Whatever Student Response System (SRS) you are using in your classroom—e.g. Promethean’s ActiVote, ActivEngage or ActivExpression—these systems are ideal for conducting formative assessment. Not only do they provide the feedback that you need to adjust your instruction, but they save all of the student data automatically, allowing you to examine them more closely at a later time.

Formative assessment is an informal evaluation process that is often used in classrooms. Formative assessment typically is used for the teacher to get feedback from the students about the efficacy of the instruction they are receiving. The answers students give or the activities they complete inform the teacher about what the students understand and what they don’t. It’s especially useful if the teacher can get feedback in real time, as this allows continuous adjustment of the instruction.

Regardless of which system you use, here are a few basic tips for using them:

1. Include questions throughout the instructional period instead of leaving them to the end. Frequent questioning allows real-time adjustment of your instruction to the students’ needs and it helps to keep the students engaged and paying attention.

2. When teaching a new skill, include questions that are different enough from the original instruction to allow evaluation of extension and generalization of that new skill. This requires some work and inventiveness, but remember that application of the new skill to novel examples is the goal.

3. A recent and critical tip from Perez et al. (2010) is that when using a Vote-Discuss-Revote method it is important not to show the results following the first vote. When early results are shown, students tend to shift their answers to the most popular choice, whether or not it is correct.

4. Remember that the tool is only as good as the instruction with which you are using it. Figure out what you need to know and how you want to measure it. Then decide how to implement the response system.

5. These embedded questions shouldn’t count toward the course grade. These questions are all about getting more information that allows you to adjust your teaching. We don’t want kids to be afraid to respond because they don’t know the answer. That defeats the purpose!

Students will grow to love using response systems and you will get a ton of good information about “what they know” if you use the systems frequently and for low-pressure formative assessment. The devices make the experience seem more game-like to kids—to the point where you will notice that they start to request to use them!

Reference

Perez, K.E., Strauss, E.A., Downey, N., Galbraith, A., Jeanne, R., & Cooper, S. (2010). Does Displaying the Class Results Affect Student Discussion during Peer Instruction? CBE Life Sciences Education, 9(2), 133–140

Related articles

• The value of formative assessment (annmic.wordpress.com)
• Formative Assessment on Assessment (thescamdog.wordpress.com)

This entry originally appeared at http://community.prometheanplanet.com/en/blog/b/blog/archive/2012/05/17/five-tips-for-using-learner-response-systems-for-formative-assessment.aspx#comments

About Promethean Planet

Created by teachers, for teachers, www.PrometheanPlanet.com is a unique teaching, sharing and support community – the place for educators to connect, create and change the classroom! Available in 15 language versions, with over 1 million members in more than 150 countries, Promethean Planet is the international meeting place for educators in the 21st century classroom. Planet’s free membership enables access to more than 60,000 downloadable resources, as well as online training, the ability to interact via forums and blogs, and a wide range of other resources.

Dr Byki Huntjens and Dr Steve Gruppetta are lecturers in the Division of Optometry and Visual Science who have introduced the PRS to undergraduate students in order that they may receive immediate classroom feedback during Clinical Skills and Optics lectures. A PRS handset is given to the students (against a small deposit) throughout their degree programme, and is registered to their name to enable responses to be matched to individuals. Each lecture features a succession of multiple choice questions (MCQ). Byki’s practice is to start later lectures with a set of MCQs covering the previous topic plus the background reading for the class, and test the students’ understanding of the new topic later on during the lecture. Steve includes material that potentially encompasses the previous lecture, the current lecture, or even paves the way for a new topic to be discussed. The end result is a series of technology-enabled formative assessments.

Although only the group scores are shown during lectures and the progress of individual students is not revealed, the results of the quizzes are uploaded to Moodle each week by topic and the students are thereby able to check their individual score. This enables them to track their progress over time, and doubles as a reminder of the topics to which they need to direct particular attention prior to the examinations. The Moodle grade book also shows the students’ ranking among the whole group, leading some of them to become slightly competitive. Indeed, the element of competition is actively nurtured – the top five students with the highest marks in the year are awarded a prize at the divisional Prize Giving event.

The students have shown excitement during the PRS quizzes and appreciate the immediacy of the feedback, the anonymity of the process, and the way that it articulates the lecture by providing an interlude. Steve has developed the practice of making the PRS quizzes, which he calls the ‘Optics Challenge’, distinct from the rest of the lecture by changing the background of the slide from white to black (see screenshot below). The students’ responses are also used by the tutors to adapt subsequent lectures to the level of understanding of the specific cohort; this has prompted a change of direction on several occasions. In addition, this information has enhanced the support that the tutors are able to offer when students have sought extra help.

Byki delivered a presentation on the use of PRS technology for formative assessment at the Fourth Annual ‘Learning at City’ Conference on 13 June, 1.20-2.00pm (the video is available here).

Christopher Wiley, Byki Huntjens, and Steve Gruppetta
with thanks to Siân Lindsay and Farzana Latif

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