Clicker IdeasDecember, 2006

Sue FrantzHighline Community College

sfrantz@highline.edu

206.878.3710, ext 3404

I’ve pulled slides out of my powerpoints for the purpose of this demonstration. In some class sessions I may ask only 1 or 2 questions; other class sessions I may have 15 or more questions.

If you have questions about anything you see here, please drop my an e-mail or give me a call.

Professor Johansen finds that for every diet beverage someone drinks during the day, the likelihood of heart attacks increases by 4 percent.

A. Positive correlation B. Negative correlation C. Zero correlation

Margaret notices that the temperature in her office drops several degrees from July to December. In a careful review of the budget she discovers that the company’s utility expenses also drop from July to December.

Fontaine who runs a gym has created a special exercise/weight lifting class for people that are overweight. He finds that for every two days a person attends the class they lose ½ % body fat.

I run slides like these to check students’ understanding of the material. I check the results as they’re displayed on the base before stopping the question and displaying the results to the students. If a large percentage of the class has it wrong, I ask them to discuss it amongst themselves then click in with their new answer.

Students are randomly assigned to take a test in either a hot room or a comfortable room. We’ll then compare test scores to see if hot rooms negatively affect test-taking.

What is the independent variable?

A. Students

B. Room temperature

C. Test scores

D. Tests

E. None of these

What is the dependent variable?

A. Students

B. Hot room

C. Comfortable room

D. Test scores

E. None of these

A new superhero emerges on the scene. This superhero is able to stay awake and vigilant for extended amounts of time. He helps the intelligence community by being able to stay in surveillance for extended amounts of time without losing concentration and can always be paying attention to what is happening. A study of this superhero’s brain might show that the ____________ is more advanced and developed than a non-superhero’s.

A. hippocampusB. amygdalaC. reticular formationD. medulla

Why is the image upside down and backwards when it reaches the retina? a. The pupil refracts (bends) the light waves.b. The lens refracts the light waves.c. The cornea refracts the light waves.d. I still have no idea.

Slides like this I project directly on the whiteboard and, using a marker, I write the letters A, B, C, D over the 4 lobes. Then I ask questions like, “Following a head injury, Kamila is having problems with her vision. Which lobe was likely affected?”

Clicking on the blue boxes reveals the name of the lobe.

A. Fixed Ratio

B. Variable Ratio

C. Fixed Interval

D. Variable Interval

1. Buying state lottery tickets and winning.2. A hotel maid may take a 15-minute break after cleaning 10 rooms.3. Watching and seeing shooting stars on a dark night.4. A teenager receives an allowance every Saturday.5. Checking the front porch for a newspaper when the deliverer is

extremely unpredictable.6. A professional baseball player gets a hit approximately every third

time at bat. 7. Checking the oven to see if chocolate chip cookies are done, when

baking time is known. 8. A blueberry picker receives $1 after filling three pint boxes.9. A charitable organization makes an average of 10 phone calls for

every donation it receives. 10.Calling a garage mechanic to see if your car is fixed yet. 11.A student’s final grade improves one level for every three book

reviews submitted.

FRVR

FIVI

VI

VR

FI

FRVR

VI

FR

This is one I offer for extra credit. If they get 9 out of 11 correct, I give them 2 extra credit points. They’re encouraged to discuss their answers with each other. And MUCH discussion ensues! I display #1, start the question, students respond, end the question, display the correct answer, then move on to #2.

In the U.S., between 1997 and 2002, “2335 children… died in alcohol-related [automobile] crashes.”

How many were riding in the same vehicle with the drinking/drunk driver?

(“Child” is defined as ≤14 years of age; “alcohol-related” is defined as blood alcohol content of >0.01 g/dL.)

1,588 -- 68%

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5304a2.htm

The majority were unrestrained.

The median BAC was .13 g/dL.

How many were riding in the same vehicle as the drunk driver?

A. > 79%

B. 60% - 79%

C. 40% - 59%

D. 20% - 39%

E. < 20%

I use slides like this when discussing the availability heuristic. Students can see what everyone else in the class has answered.

B. Anxiety disorders

1. Phobias

A. Terrifying

B. Very scary

C. Scary

D. Bothersome

E. Not a problem

For each item, students click in with their level of fear, then I show them the results of a national survey.

1. I need an alarm clock in order to wake up at the appropriate time.

2. It’s a struggle for me to get out of bed in the morning.

3. Weekday mornings I hit the snooze button several times to get more sleep.

4. I feel tired, irritable, and stressed-out during the week.

5. I have trouble concentrating and remembering.

6. I feel slow with critical thinking, problem solving, and being creative.

7. I often fall asleep watching TV.

8. I often fall asleep in boring meetings or lectures or in warm rooms.

9. I often fall asleep after heavy meals or after a low dose of alcohol.

10. I often fall asleep while relaxing after dinner.

11. I often fall asleep within 5 minutes of getting into bed.

12. I often feel drowsy while driving.

13. I often sleep extra hours on weekend mornings.

14. I often need a nap to get through the day.

From: Maas, J. (1998). Power Sleep. New York: Villard Books.

A. Strongly agree

B. Agree

C. Neither agree nor disagree

D. Disagree

E. Strongly disagree

Big Five Personality Traits

Emotional StabilityExtraversionOpennessAgreeablenessConscientiousness

Add up:

5 31 11 37 17 43 22 47 26

Scores range from 9 to 45

Higher scores reflect greater emotional stability

A.9-16

B.17-23

C.24-30

D.31-37

E. 38-45

After taking the Big Five Inventory, students score each trait then click in with their score.

II. Cognitive Dissonance

Who enjoyed the task more?A. $1 groupB. $20 group

Who liked the grasshoppers more?A. Pleasant experimenter groupB. Rude experimenter group

Who was more interested in joining the sex discussion group?A. Difficult task groupB. No task group

After describing each of these classic experiments, I ask students to predict the results.

A lot of the clicker questions I ask in class are not preplanned like you see here.

As we discuss different material I may verbally ask, “Do you want another example? A. Yes B. No.” Or “How well do you understand this concept? A. I totally understand … E. I have no clue.”

For classroom demonstrations that involve each half of the class doing a different task and generating different results (like in some memory demos), I’ll have half the class click in, end that question, start a new question, and have the other half the class click in. Then show both bar graphs side by side.

I have colleagues who are considering using it for peer critiques. For instance, after a presentation, the rubric for scoring the presentation would be displayed and students would click in with their numerical assessment.

“It helps the students interact more with class.”

“Teacher gets instant feedback from students.”

“Students know where their understanding level is compared to the whole class.”

They “make you use the information you know or find out that you don’t know it.”

“You get to see what everybody else in class is thinking, but you do not get singled out. Nice if you are shy about giving wrong answers!”

“I think that the clickers are great because we get to see what the rest of the class is thinking instead of just hearing what the loud kids have to say.”

“I really enjoy using the iClickers. I think it’s a good learning tool, and also a good measurement of your learning. I especially like it when the teacher asks, ‘How well do you understand: A: Good – E: Not at all.’ You can give an honest answer.”

“I think the clickers make class more fun. Instead of going through the entire class and asking for answers/opinions with some students feeling nervous about speaking up, we can answer using the clickers and everyone can put in their opinion without worrying about what other students might think.”

Comments from some of my students.