The document discusses a study on the use of clickers to improve student engagement in a small graphic design class at CPUT. Three clicker interventions were designed that encouraged discussion through non-factual questions and peer voting. Findings showed that clickers improved student attention, participation, and peer learning through their simplicity, novelty, entertainment value, and by creating a safe environment for students to share opinions anonymously. The conclusions were that collaborative learning was emphasized over knowledge transfer and clickers helped students learn from each other.

3. Introduction

4. CPUT invested in 100 clickers at the end of 2009 for use in the Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP).ECP allows lecturers more time to develop interactive approaches to teaching and learning

6. A main challenge in the ECP Graphic Design course is the lack of student participation & engagement in class discussions

7. 71022

8. Student engagement is the single best predictor of a student’s learning and personal development (Kuh, 2009)

9. (Sandholtz et al., 1994)

10. Literature

11. Clickers & EngagementStudies link student engagement,improved attention and focus to clickers. Improved attendance, enjoyment and fun experienced inlectures are also attributed to clickers(Addison, Wright, & Milner, 2009; Preszler et al., 2007;Stagg & Lane, 2010; Trees & Jackson, 2007)

12. Clickers & ParticipationThey offer students an opportunity to participate in class without “fear of ridicule, should they volunteer an incorrect response” (Banks, 2006)

13. Clickers & ParticipationSecond language learners often struggle to participate in class because of cultural factors inhibiting active participation, such as lack of competency in the language of instruction (Stagg & Lane, 2010)

14. Small Classes“very little attention has been paid to the impact of clickers in small classes”(Walker & Barwell, 2009:3)

15. Clickers & EngagementIn smaller classes, clickers’ main benefit lies in “collaborative learning [amongst students] rather than the knowledge transfer from teacher to learner(Walker & Barwell, 2009)

16. Clickers & Peer LearningMazur (1997) is one of the main proponents of using clickers for peer learning, which can help normally struggling students to improve in examinations.

17. Context

19. During 2010 three clicker interventionswere designed and implementedThe interventions encouraged discussion through non factual questions and peer voting

20. Data Collection

22. Findings

23. simplicity, novelty and entertainment 3 themessafe, non-threatening class environment sharing opinions and learning from each other

24. Attention

25. I enjoyed myself during the clicker class.People get kind of involved in the process.No one left the class bored or tired [but] happy and comfortable.After the questions were all done, I wanted more!Simplicity, novelty and entertainment (Kay & Lesage, 2009)

26. I find it to be very innovative,exciting and it grabs my attentionYou have to refresh your mind and think about what you are going to answer ... it keeps our minds think[ing] all the time.

27. Participation

28. Staying anonymous [is good]: people are unsure of their answers or they’re too embarrassed to say their answers or they’re scared that some people might think of them differently, if they say something wrong.Corresponding to other findings in the literature (Simpson & Oliver, 2007) the anonymity that clickers offer decreased fear

29. …feel free to talk with your own language ... then you can have a reason. Because you’re not that perfect in English. That’s why you feel so scared. But I have a reason in isiXhosa, but I don’t know how to say it in English. Stagg and Lane (2010)

30. I like that clicker answers are anonymous

31. Peer Learning

32. You hear other people’s opinions and then you can weigh it up with your own ... and with that you can formulate a better answer.You hear different explanations from other people about the things that you don’t even know about.

33. The more people speak out their ideas, the more I think on adding to what they have said.It helps widening the thinking and helps the flow of thinking juice.

34. I like to see what others are thinking

35. Clickers help us learn from each other

36. Each student should have their own clicker

37. Conclusion

39. Even if the process of collaborative decision-making necessitated through peer-voting is not always a comfortable experience for students, the development of this skill is crucial for future graphic designers.

40. The findings strengthen our view, that collaborative learning, rather than knowledge transfer from teacher to learner, should be emphasised in small clicker classes.

41. Question

42. Thank You

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