1. USING CLICKERS IN
HUMANITIES AND
SOCIAL SCIENCE
CLASSES
Brigitta Lee, East Asian Studies Nov. 13,
2014

2. CHANGING CLICKER CHANNELS
ResponseCard NXT
1. Press “Channel” button
2. Enter channel number 41
3. Press Enter (silver button in
the center)
1
2
3

3. OBJECTIVES
 Examine rationale for using clickers to
develop critical thinking
 Discuss strategies and best practices for
clicker use
 Review types and examples of clicker
questions
 Design questions that could be used for
student engagement and critical thinking

4. I work primarily in the:
A. Humanities
B. Social Sciences
C. Other

5. As an instructor, I have used clickers:
A. Extensively
B. A few times
C. Not at all
D. I’m not an instructor

6. I came here today primarily to:
A. learn about the rationale
for using clickers
B. get ideas for types of
questions
C. get strategies for
incorporating clicker
questions into class
sessions
D. experiment with using
clickers
E. learn the mechanics of
using clickers
F. Other

7. Rationale and Assumptions
Implications for Student Learning
Why use clickers?

8. Clickers and Critical Thinking
 Critical Thinking (Brookfield 2012)
 Hunting assumptions
 Checking assumptions
 Seeing things from different viewpoints
 Taking informed action
 Kinds of Assumptions
 Causal (What does happen)
 Prescriptive (What should happen)
 Paradigmatic (framing/structuring)

9. Hunting Assumptions
 Read Executive Summary of “Clicker
Resource Guide: An Instructor’s Guide to the
Effective Use of Personal Response Systems
(Clickers) in Teaching.”
 Identify paradigmatic assumptions

10. In the text, which of the following assumptions
is paradigmatic?
A. Clicker questions should
help learning
B. Student engagement is
better than passive
reception of content
C. Clicker questions should
lead to discussion
D. Student-student
engagement is valuable

11. Why use clickers?
 Increases attendance and participation
 Accountability
 Anonymity
 Shy students
 Large classes

12. Why use clickers?
 Increases student engagement
 Independent thinking
 Involved in knowledge production/constructing
knowledge on small scale
 Commitment to answer (“Simultaneous reporting”)
 Sharing knowledge with peers/different
perspectives
 Element of play
 Makes class more "personal”
 More likely to try out answer and not be as
concerned if “wrong”—learn from mistakes

13. Why use clickers?
 Provides frequent feedback
 instant feedback
 confirm or refute students’ previous understanding
 Confidence when see they get question right
 Can lead to discussion of implications
 Provides basis to change course or correct
misconceptions
 Larger % of participation means more accurate
student data
 Students can see how they are doing in relation to
others

14. Strategies and Best Practices

15. What aspect of using clickers is of
most concern to an instructor?
A. Using multiple choice-
style questioning
B. Integrating clicker
questions into an
existing class
C. Learning the
technology
D. Getting students on
board
E. Other

16. What aspect of using clickers would be
of most concern to students?
A. Having attendance
monitored
B. Having to answer
difficult questions
C. Getting a grade for
clicker answers
D. Encountering technical
difficulties
E. Having to purchase
the clicker

17. Clickers are best NOT to be used for:
A. assessing knowledge
acquisition
B. assessing conceptual
understanding
C. modeling reasoning
process
D. stimulating discussion
E. gathering data
F. reflecting on learning
progress

18. Best Practices
 Think of clickers as a tool
 clicker technology as secondary to pedagogy and
disciplinary goals
 Identify learning objective and intellectual skill
that you want to engage first
 structure clicker questions that engage those
skills and objectives
 Multiple choice questions aren’t just for exams
 Multiple defensible answers

19. Best Practices
 Jumping-off point for discussion
 Combine with peer teaching/group work
 Use answers to guide follow-up questioning
 Discuss rationale for clicker use explicitly with
students
 Plan for technical mishaps
 Don’t try to do everything at once
 Consider how/if you will grade answers

20. Examples from EAS 160A3: Chinese
Civilization
Question Types

21. Chinese Civilization (EAS
160A3)
 Large (150-200 students) Tier 1 Gen Ed
 Freshmen/Sophomore
 Primarily lecture
 Primarily informal assessment, opinion polls;
some use for formal assessment

22. Administrative/Course
Feedback
 Checking knowledge of syllabus, course
policies
 Questioning about course deadlines
 Checking in about learning experience

23. Full instructions for Research Project
Assignment #1 (DUE Sept. 26) are in:
A. the syllabus
B. In D2L “Content”
section
C. Will be handed out in
discussion section
Questioning
about upcoming
assignment

24. Content Review
 Discussing difficult quiz questions
 Reviewing content from previous lectures

25. Which of the following was an innovation that
Confucius introduced to the late Warring States
period?
A. Controlling the people
through the imposition
of laws
B. Writing books about
early Zhou kings
C. Teaching students
about human nature
and the nature of
existence
D. Using education to
prepare people to
serve in government
Review of
Online Quiz

26. Making Connections
 Comparing/contrasting
 Using personal knowledge or experience to
understand new content

27. What is the main purpose of education
today? Why?
A. Career training
B. Moral development
C. Prepare for citizenship
D. Develop
independence and
critical thinking
E. Cultural literacy
Opinion poll

28. If Zhu Xi came to Tucson in a time machine, he would
__________ with our educational goals today.
A. strongly agree
B. agree
C. be neutral
D. disagree
E. strongly disagree
Applying knowledge of
traditional Chinese
educational philosophy

29. Text and Image Analysis
 Interpretation/Differing perspectives
 Paraphrase
 Re-polling technique
 Answer individually without revealing answer
 Discuss in small groups
 Re-poll and reveal answer
 Discuss reasoning in whole class discussion

30. Analects 2:1
The Master said: “One who governs through virtue
may be compared to the polestar, which
occupies its place while the host of other stars
pay homage to it.”
 What is the analogy that Confucius is drawing?

31. According to Confucius, a good king should
inspire the admiration of his people by:
A. using force
B. being willing to
compromise
C. using personal charm
D. acting in a kingly way
Paraphrasing

32. According to Confucius, a good king inspire the
admiration of his people by:
A. using force
B. being willing to
compromise
C. using personal charm
D. acting in a kingly way
Re-poll

33. Seven Sages of the Bamboo
Grove
“The Ruans were all great drinkers. When Ruan
Xian arrived at the home of any of the clan for a
gathering, they no longer used ordinary wine
cups. Instead, they would use a large earthenware
vat filled with wine, and sit facing one another all
around it, taking long drafts. One time a herd of
pigs came to drink and went directly up to the vat,
whereupon pigs and men proceeded to drink
together.”
From Liu I-ch’ing, A New Account of
Tales of the World (Shishuo xinyu 世
说新语)

34. What is most surprising about the Ruans’
behavior in this anecdote? Why?
A. They are drinking wine
B. They are using a vat
instead of cups to
drink
C. They let the pigs drink
with them
Personal
interpretation

35. If you were a traditional Confucian hearing this
anecdote, why would you have objected to the
Ruans’ behavior?
A. Drinking leads to
immoral behavior
B. Drinking from a vat
instead of individual
wine cups disregards
distinctions within the
family
C. Letting pigs drink from
the same vat
contaminates the wine
Adopting a
different
perspective

36. Other kinds of questions
 Demographic
 Past experience
 Student-designed

37. Designing a Question

38. Learning Goal
(what do you
want students to
be able to do?)
Goal(s) of the
clicker question
(examples)
Tactic (examples) Question
Bloom’s
Taxonomy of
Learning
Objectives action
verbs (e.g.
explain, interpret,
recognize,
evaluate)
+
Disciplinary Skills
and Concepts
• Promote
discussion
• Analysis and
reasoning
• Multiple defensible
answers
• Identity false
assumption
• Stimulate
cognitive
processes
• Reveal unstated
assumptions
• Disorienting
dilemma
• Diverse
perspectives
• Gather data • Demographic
• Opinion poll
• Raise awareness • Self-reflection
• Connect to the
real world
• Real world problemAdapted from “Clicker Resource Guide: An Instructor’s Guide to the Effective Use of
Personal Response Systems (Clickers) in Teaching”

39. What questions do you still have?

40. References
 Brookfield, Stephen D. 2011. Teaching for Critical Thinking: Tools and Techniques to Help
Students Question Their Assumptions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Bruff, Derek. 2009. Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active
Learning Environments. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 ———. “Clickers.” Agile Learning: Derek Bruff’s Blog on Teaching and Technology.
http://derekbruff.org/?page_id=2.
 Chasteen, Stephanie. 2014. “Using Clickers in Social Sciences and Humanities: No-One-
Right Answer Questions.” iClicker. http://www1.iclicker.com/using-clickers-social-
sciences-humanities-one-right-answer-questions/.
 “Clicker Resource Guide: An Instructor’s Guide to the Effective Use of Personal Response
Systems (Clickers) in Teaching.” 2009.
http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/files/Clicker_guide_CWSEI_CU-SEI.pdf.
 Mollborn, Stefanie, and Angel Hoekstra. 2010. “‘A Meeting of Minds’ Using Clickers for
Critical Thinking and Discussion in Large Sociology Classes.” Teaching Sociology 38 (1):
18–27.
 Voelker, David J. 2009. “Clicking for Clio: Using Technology to Teach Historical Thinking.”
Perspectives on History, December. http://www.historians.org/publications-and-
directories/perspectives-on-history/december-2009/clicking-for-clio-using-technology-to-
teach-historical-thinking.
 Webking, Richard, and Felix Valenzuela. 2006. “Using Audience Response Systems to
Develop Critical Thinking Skills.” In Audience Response Systems in Higher Education:
Applications and Cases, edited by David A. Banks, 127–39. Hershey, PA: Information
Science Publishing.