1) The document discusses best practices for using clickers, or classroom response systems, to create effective questions that promote active learning across disciplines. 2) It provides examples of different types of clicker questions, such as factual recall questions, vote-share-vote conceptual questions, polling questions, and thought questions, along with examples. 3) The document also discusses best practices like having clicker questions in most classes, engaging students by focusing on wrong answers, and ensuring exams reflect clicker content, as well as pitfalls to avoid like not explaining the purpose of clickers.

1. Clickers 201: Creating Effective
Questions In Any Discipline
Dr. Jeff Loats
Physics Department
MSCD
Christy Cummings
Behavioral Sciences
CCD
“The one who does the work
does the learning”
– Terry Doyle

2. Are you currently using clickers
(a classroom response system) in
your courses?
A) I have never used them.
B) I have used them before, but don’t
currently.
C) I use them currently in at least one class.

3. In (roughly) what area do you teach?
A) Humanities
B) Natural sciences & mathematics
C) Professions & applied sciences
D) Social sciences
E) Teacher education

4. Evidence For Effectiveness
• Quick/easy attendance in large class sizes.
• Provides anonymity (Banks, 2006).
• Every student participates (Banks, 2006).
• Encourages active learning (Martyn, 2007).
• Improved concentration (Hinde & Hunt, 2006)
• Improved learning and retention (Moreau, 2010).
• Improved exam scores (Poirier & Feldman, 2007)
• Efficient use of class time (Anderson, et al. 2011).
• Engages students in metacognition.

5. The Physics Education Revolution
• About ~20 years ago, physics teachers began
treating education as a research topic!
• Their findings: Grim!
From Mazur, New Faculty
Workshop presentation, 2004
• Eric Mazur
(Harvard) found:
"But the students do
fine on my exams!"

6. 6
How Do Others Do?
Conclusion: Traditional physics lectures are all similarly
(in)effective in improving conceptual understanding.

7. Did It Work for Mazur?
Mazur after 1 year of using Peer Instruction
• This is a big
jump in
conceptual
understanding.
• Is this just about
new energy being
put into an
old class?
(This is a difficult confounding factor
in assessing new teaching techniques.)

8. Does It Work For Others?
• This method was
then used in classes
all over the country
with impressive
results all around.
• A conceptually
focused class with
responsibility placed
on students creates improved conceptual gains.
• The evidence indicates that problem solving skills
are improved when time is devoted to concepts.

9. Bloom’s Taxonomy
A Hierarchy of Thinking Skills (1956)
6) Evaluation
5) Synthesis
4) Analysis
3) Application
2) Comprehension
1) Knowledge

11. Types of clicker questions:
Factual Recall
• Can occasionally serve as a reading quiz or as
a lecture diagnostic.
• Students rate these questions as much less
valuable compared to harder, deeper questions.
• If these are “high-stakes,” technical difficulties
become even more problematic.

12. Example Question:
Factual Recall
What is the correct expression for the area
of a circle?
A) e ∙ r
B) e ∙ r2
C) π ∙ d
D) π ∙ r2
E) π ∙ r

13. Types of clicker questions:
Vote-Share-Vote, a.k.a. Peer Instruction
• Challenging conceptual questions
(40-60% correct on 1st try).
• Students vote individually (after time to think).
• “Turn to your neighbor and convince them.”
• Students vote again, post discussion
• Class-wide discussion and elaboration

14. Example Question:
Vote-Share-Vote, a.k.a. Peer Instruction
Two identical blocks are connected by a lightweight
cord that runs through a light pulley. They are held in
the positions shown. When released, the blocks will
end up
A) at their current heights.
B) at equal heights.
C) with block 1 on the ground. 1
2
D) with block 2 on the ground.

15. Types of clicker questions:
Polling/Survey
• Polls or surveys provide a way for students to
express their opinion on topics, when they
otherwise might remain quiet.
• Polls or surveys can be used as a comparison
with statistics in the text.
• Students enjoy voting on controversial topics.
The classroom can quickly become more
animated after viewing the results.

16. Example Question:
Polling/Survey
Is there a colleague in your department that
you think should not have received tenure,
or should not have their contract renewed?
A) Yes
B) No

17. Example Question:
Polling/Survey
Do you feel you were treated fairly at all
levels of review when you had your most
recent professional review (renewal, tenure,
promotion, etc.)?
A) Yes
B) No
First vote: Women only
Second vote: Men only

18. Types of clicker questions:
Poll-Teach-Poll
• Polling first (without showing the results), then
teaching, then polling again allows tracking of
changes in student attitudes or opinions.
• Can enhance critical thinking (analyzing,
evaluating).
• Increases metacognition (partner/peer share).
• Provides quick checks on knowledge and
understanding of material.

19. Example Question:
Poll-Teach-Poll
Which best describes your feelings about female
circumcision/FGM?
A) I am writing letters to the WHO to protest.
B) “To each their own.” We shouldn’t interfere
with another culture.
C) What is the big deal? Males around the world
are circumcised.
D) I don’t know anything about FGM.

20. Types of clicker questions:
Thought Questions
1. Start by choosing a learning goal to assess.
2. Develop an open-ended application/prediction question
for the goal.
3. Present the question, organize groups of 3-4 students
and allow 5-7 minutes for discussion.
4. One group presents their answer and rationale.
5. Class votes on rationale: Agree/Disagree/Don’t know.
6. If the majority of the class disagrees, another group
gets to offer their answer and rationale.
7. Repeat 5 & 6 until the majority agrees.

21. Example Question:
Thought Questions
Endocrinology:
What would you predict would happen to the ovulatory
frequency if one ovary were removed?
Immunology:
Given that all blood cell types derive from the pluripotent
hemopoietic stem cell, why are there so many
different types of cells in the immune system?
(discussions like this can be used to generate
choices for more standard clicker questions)

22. Types of clicker questions:
Thought Questions
Created by T. Foley & Pei-San Tsai
in the CU Integrative Physiology Department
Google “thought questions CU-SEI”
or use http://goo.gl/SWhvW

23. Types of clicker questions:
Teach-Test-Review or Teach-Test-Retest
• Questions focus on measurable skills that are
the learning outcomes of the lesson.
• Use as a diagnostic for the instructor and as
formative assessment for the student.
• Repeated testing does show benefits compared
to repeated studying.
(Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).

24. Creating Questions: Write
• Choose a topic from a course you teach
regularly, then choose a question type and a
Bloom’s dimension.
• Write a question to fit those criteria. Use the
Bloom’s verbs. (Write another if you have time.)
• In ~5 minutes we will ask you to share with your
neighbor…

25. Creating Questions: Share
• Form a pair or group.
• Without preamble, ask your colleague(s) to
answer your question. Then discuss it:
– Which type of question do they think it is.
– What Bloom’s dimension do they think it is?
• Choose one question to share with the whole
room. (Good/bad/interesting/tough.)

26. Clickers: Best Practices and Pitfalls
• Sell it: Be explicit with students about why you are
using clickers.
• Be consistent: Have clicker questions in nearly all
classes.
• Engage students: Let students explain often, focus on
wrong answers.
• Demonstrate value: Exams/papers should reflect ideas
from clicker questions.
• Give credit: Clickers should be 2%-15% of grade.
Grade on participation… mostly.

27. Thanks!
• References are listed on the handout.
• Contact:
Jeff Loats, Jeff.Loats@gmail.com
Christy Cummings, Christy.Cummings@ccd.edu
A copy of this presentation is online at
www.slideshare.net/jeffloats