Faculty Showcase: Tom Knecht
Clickers in the Classroom: Improving Students' Comprehension, Attentiveness, and Participation
I'm an assistant professor of political science. I've taught at DU since fall 2004. I teach The American Presidency, Congress, American Foreign Policy, American Government Simulation, Interest Groups, Participation and Representation, American Public Opinion, Power and Justice, and the Politics of Sports.
My primary audience are undergraduates. The typical class is 15-25 students in a seminar room. I've used clickers for both upper division major courses as well as CORE and First-Year Seminar classes.
Clickers were originally designed for large lecture courses in which student-teacher interaction was difficult. However, I believe the technology provides a number of important benefits for smaller classes. First, I use clickers to assess student comprehension as I lecture. In the absence of clickers, a common method of testing student comprehension of lecture material is to inquire, “Are there any questions?” This question is typically met with deafening silence, which is usually taken as an indication of total comprehension. Instructors are then surprised when those same students struggle with exams. Using clickers, I ask multiple-choice questions about potentially confusing aspects of the day’s lecture in the middle of the lecture. If I see a large number of incorrect I can go back and clarify the troublesome concepts. By asking questions during lecture, students become much more involved in the teaching and learning process and, to a large degree, control the pace of instruction.
Second, the technology improves both students’ preparation for class and attentiveness during lectures. Because clickers can link students with their answers, I usually ask several quiz questions throughout the class session. These quizzes motivate students to prepare for class and reward those who are diligent in their studies.
Third, I have found that clickers increase student engagement and participation. Many of our students are reluctant to offer opinions on sensitive topics (e.g., race, abortion, religion). Clickers allow students to express their views anonymously without fear of social rebuke. I have also found that the quality of the class discussion increased when students first express their opinion through clickers. This, I believe, is a result of the fact that every student is compelled to answer the question posed through the clickers – the technology can report whether students have not yet registered a response. Thus every student has thought, if only briefly, about the question at hand; class discussions end up involving a broader range of students and not being as readily dominated by the most vocal or opinionated ones. Furthermore, displaying a histogram of student opinions can have an empowering effect on less vocal students. In many cases, students feel that their opinions are “wrong” and shared by no one else in the class; showing students that others feel the same way can encourage the reticent student to talk.
Finally, students find the technology fun. In my Core class on public opinion, for instance, I ask students questions on a wide range of subjects. I then compare these responses to national opinion polls. I have also used clickers to play game-show-like review sessions "Presidential Jeopardy" and "The Power of Ten."