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Clickers - Personal Response Systems
Personal response systems are a great new way to engage students during class. The Weigle Information Commons has a set of 97 clickers available for borrowing in the Vitale Digital Media Lab, funded in part by the generosity of GAPSA.
| What is a clicker? Each student has a clicker in class. The professor asks the class a multiple choice question, using a PowerPoint slide or any display technology, including chalk and blackboard. Each student clicks in their answer. Clicker software compiles and graphs the class response instantly. Countdown timers and correct answer marks keep lessons fast-paced. WIC uses two types of clickers - an older model is pictured at right, and a newer model with LCD screen to confirm responses. The clicker receiver plugs into a USB port and works with personal laptops as well as classroom computers. |
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Getting Started
- Start here: Download the authoring toolbar from Turning Point's download site. Please check that the version matches the one you would use in the classroom. The WIC Seminar Room has Turning Point 2008. Start Turning Point, and it will launch PowerPoint.
- Sample presentations to start with: (Download and preview after installing Turning Point. Choose Keyboard for response device and you can test these without any hardware.)
- Two clicker templates are available to get started with on Office 2007 and Office 2003
- Library Demonstration presentation (Office 2007)- We use this sample file to demonstrate TurningPoint 2008 for PC features.
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire template from Turning Point training
- Jeopardy template from Turning Point training
- Students can purchase clickers online with the code Bg2Y for discounted pricing for Penn.
- BlackBoard Integration - Turning Point 2008:
- Turn clicker registration on in your course in BB9: Customization / Tool Availability / Registration Block - check this on to make the Turning Point Registration Tool available to your students. Give your students this handout and ask them to register their clickers.
- Before class, click on Tools / Integrations in Turning Point 2008 toolbar. Choose BlackBoard and enter the server name: https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu
- Check the SSL box on, and then log in to BB within TurningPoint
- Choose Import Participant List and select the correct course. (Watch tutorial for an older version.)
- After class, repeat the same process to extract the data from TurningPoint into BB 9 Gradebook. (Watch tutorial for an older version.)
- Additional BB details are on the SAS Computing Advanced Clickers page.
Planning your Clicker Use
- Seven Things You Should Know About Clickers (Educause 2005 PDF)
- Best Practices ideas from Turning Point
- Reflections - a 5 min video of Paul Heiney from Physics and Astronomy and Melissa Wilde from Sociology about their use of clickers
- Turning Point offers regular online training sessions. WIC offers occasional hands-on sessions listed on WICshops
- Large lecture classes - Alain Plante discusses how to engage students with course material and with small-group problem-solving.
- Clickers website created by SAS Computing
- Clickers Bibliography compiled by SAS Computing
- Daily Pennsylvanian article on clickers - February 25, 2008
- New York Times article on Professor Melissa Wilde's use of clickers - April 2004
- Tutorial site from University of Wisconsin
Effectiveness of Clickers
- Research study on value of peer instruction (January 2009) and Science Daily article on same topic
- Clickers for Teaching Calculus - article from American Mathematical Society (February 2009)
- Clicker use in science and engineering - resources
Advanced Topics
- Handouts on several advanced topics from University of Wisconsin
Updated: Sept 2010
http://wic.library.upenn.edu/wicshops/clickers_tutorial.html
http://wic.library.upenn.edu/wicshops/clickers_tutorial.html
© University of Pennsylvania | WIC Desk: 215-746-2660 | Digital Media Lab: 215-746-2661 | Send a suggestion to: wic1@pobox.upenn.edu