Classroom Clickers and TPT

Total Participation Techniques, or TPTs, aims to create opportunities for ALL students to be actively engaged during a lesson. According to Himmele & Himmele book The Language Classroom: A Research-Based Framework for Teaching English Language Learners, the many benefits of incorporating TPTs in the classroom include their ability to provide evidence of academic engagement, offer assessment opportunities, build community among students, as well as build academic and linguistic confidence (2008). One technological tool that supports total participation are student response systems, or "clickers." Clickers are remotes that students can use to anonymously respond to a question posed by the moderator though a computer. Teachers can ask true-false questions or multiple choice questions and within seconds, students' responses are logged and their scores tabulated (either in numerical or chart form). Teachers get immediate feedback about which specific students need help because each remote is numbered, as well as within which key concept areas. Grades can also be assigned through the clicker software.



Clickers are a great way to encourage total participation of all students within a classroom because they actively engage students throughout the whole period, gauge their level of understanding of the material, and provide prompt feedback to student questions. In addition, they provide shy and quiet students more confidence to respond to questions, because its anonymity takes away the opportunity for public humiliation (Martyn, 2007).



Research studies have shown the potential of using clickers in the classroom. An article published in Education Technology News in February 2006 entitled "Response system engages students, makes them want to attend class" by Jeffrey Branzburg showed that 64% of students who used ResponseCard clickers enhanced their comprehension and recollection of class content. Additionally, it was found that 72% of the class participated in classroom discussions.



There are many benefits to using clickers with students, but there are may be some hurdles you must leap over first to be able to use them. First, not all schools have clicker systems available. Student response systems are not cheap and may cost from $700 to an upwards of $2000 for a classroom set of clickers and software. However, these systems are typically eligible for many federal grants.



Once you have acquired a student response system for your classroom, it is essential to go through some sort of training to learn how to configure and utilize the software as well as how to effectively use clickers with students.



Maria Martyn's article, Clickers in the Classroom: An Active Learning Approach, has a comprehensive list of best practices for implementing clickers in the classroom.

1. Keep slides short to optimize legibility.

2. Keep the number of answer options to five.

3. Do not make the questions overly complex.

4. Keep voting straightforward—systems allow complex branching, but keep it simple.

5. Allow sufficient time for students to answer questions. Some general guidelines:

• Classes of fewer than 30 students: 15–20 seconds per question
• Classes of 30 to 100 students: 30 seconds per question
• Classes of more than 100 students: 1 minute per question

6. Allow time for discussion between questions.

7. Encourage active discussion with the audience.

8. Do not ask too many questions; use them for the key points.

9. Position the questions at periodic intervals throughout the presentation.

10. Include an "answer now" prompt to differentiate between lecture slides and interactive polling slides.

11. Use a "correct answer" indicator to visually identify the appropriate answer.

12. Include a "response grid" so that students know their responses have registered.

13. Increase responsiveness by using a "countdown timer" that will close polling after a set amount of time.

14. Test the system in the proposed location to identify technical issues (lighting, signal interference, etc.)

15. On the actual day of the session, allow time to set out clickers and start system.

16. Rehearse actual presentation to make sure it will run smoothly.

17. Provide clear instructions on how to use the clickers to the audience.

18. Do not overuse the system or it will lose its "engagement" potential.

Keeping all this information in mind, student response systems can be a great way to actively engage all students without letting outspoken students dominate discussions.


References

Himmele, P, & Himmele, W. (2009). The language-rich classroom: a research-based framework for teaching english language learners. Alexandria, Va: ASCD.

Martyn, M. (2007). Clickers in the classroom: an active learning approach. EDUCAUSE Quarterly (EQ), 30(2), Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ClickersintheClassroomAnActive/157458