Post Classifieds
Clickers get students involved
By Narmeen Karzoun
On April 21, 2012
Assistant Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition Carol DeNysschen
has found it has become increasingly difficult to engage students in
the classroom without incorporating some type of technology.
It was only through the integration of Turning Point clickers
into two of her nutrition courses that she noticed a dramatic
improvement in student participation.
"I find that they're wonderful," DeNysschen said. "They have
definitely engaged the students. I teach a lot of morning classes
and that's sometimes difficult for students, but with the Turning
Point clickers they have to stay alert and listen to the lecture
because every so often I'll put a clicker question in."
Instructional support associate Tim Sager said the Turning Point
clickers can be used in any of the 68 smart classrooms on campus
as long as the Turning Point software, which is free to download, is
on the computer.
The clickers, which have been used on campus since 2007, consist
of two pieces of equipment, the remote control device itself and the
receiver which collects information from the clickers and places it
onto the computer.
The receiver plugs into the USB port of the computer and allows
the professor to view the data that is submitted as a bar graph on
the projector screen to see whether or not students understand the
material being taught.
"You can get a real time assessment of the class," Sager said. "If
you get everyone to answer a question you can tell right away how
many students understand the topic."
DeNysschen said after she teaches a difficult concept she likes
to use the clickers in order to see the percentage of students who
understand what is being taught and the percentage of those who
don't understand what is being taught.
"It has helped in that if I do a clicker question about a concept that
I just taught and 20 percent of the students get it right then I know
we need to revisit that," DeNysschen said.
Aside from this, she has found that because the clicker answers
portrayed on the projector screen are 100 percent anonymous, the
quieter students who normally wouldn't participate in discussion
are finally able to do so.
One of DeNysschen's students, Mike Christ, a junior dietetics
major from Buffalo has noticed that the clickers help to break the
monotony of PowerPoint presentations that a lot of professors like
to use. The only drawback in his opinion is the cost. The clickers
cost $40 at the Buffalo State bookstore.
Overall, Denysschen said use of the clickers is helping students to
not only understand lectures better, but also have the ability to see
where they stand with the course as a whole.
"I want students to want to come to class," she said. "I want them
to say 'hey, it's going to be a good experience.'"
For comments on this story, contact bscrecord@gmail.com.
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