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New Jersey Example Page - WPU
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Biology Professor Introduces Students to Clicker Technology - By: Lori McCurley - eFocus magazine
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In an effort to encourage students to participate in class discussions, Martin Hahn, professor of biology at Paterson University, presented his biology class with hand-held clickers (personal response systems) for the fall semester.
William Paterson is one of the first colleges in New Jersey to use latest form of technology. Hand-held clickers are similar to a wireless television remote. After the professor poses a question through a slide, students press a button on their coded remote, which sends infrared signals to a receiver in the front of a lecture hall. Answers are then tabulated and posted on a screen in a graph format. Even though the responses are made public, the respondents remain anonymous.
Last spring, Hahn decided to use hand-held clickers from the Thomson Publishing Group. "I thought their product was the most straight-forward and least cumbersome for the students," said Hahn. "I also liked their arrangement because the clickers were included with the students' books."
Hahn received some basic training about the clickers but admitted that he learned through "self discovery. "Hahn, who usually doesn't lecture in Powerpoint, "had to think about how he wanted to gather and present information." He also received help from his undergraduate teaching assistant, Rohan Palmer, a senior biology major.
Even though Hahn went through an adjustment period, he is now extremely comfortable and has found that the clickers work well with large class sizes. "It's hard to get feedback in a class of 106, without using the clickers,"said Hahn. "However, now I'm able to do a self-assessment of where the students are and how they are doing." Hahn also feels that this form of technology enables him to pursue and follow through on questions that students might otherwise regard as uncomfortable or personal.
Sandra Miller, director of instruction and research technology, acknowledges that other professors at the University have recently become interested in this new form of technology. Miller notes that "IRT and Information Services (IS) support the professors' interest in hand-held clickers and are available to help them get the software up and running.
Tom Heinzen, associate professor of psychology, recently implemented the clickers into General Psychology class is excited about the new dynamic that they bring. "It is a useful education tool because I can immediately clarify misunderstandings that result from the responses," said Heinzen. "Electronic participation also encourages lively and thought-provoking discussions while providing students with the anonymity to answer questions without reservation."
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New Jersey Example Page | Student Automated Response Systems
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