20080924

Education research: preliminary feedback on clickers (Chemistry 210FL, Cuesta College, Fall Semester 2008)

At the start of Fall semester 2008, Cuesta College students taking Chemistry 210FL (introductory chemistry) at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA have begun use of clickers (Classroom Performance System, einstruction.com) during lecture.

During the fourth week of instruction, students were given the opportunity to evaluate the instructional components of the course, and the use of clickers in an online "Learning Resource Survey" hosted by SurveyMonkey.com. Questions from section II are adapted from the Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) survey (developed by Elaine Seymour, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison), and questions from section III (III.1, III.3, III.5, and III.7) were adapted from a "Clicker Attitude Survey" (N. W. Reay, Lei Bao, and Pengfei Li, Physics Education Research Group, Ohio State University).

These are the complete survey results. Analysis will be forthcoming after more data has been compiled from future semesters. Values for the mean and standard deviations are given next to the modal response category for each question. Note that the order of questions within sections II and III were randomly scrambled for each student.
Learning Resource Survey
Cuesta College
Chemistry 210FL Fall Semester 2008 sections 70337, 71810, 71813, 72093
(N = 52)

I. In order to receive credit for completing this survey,
first enter your first and last name below:
____


II. How much did each of the following aspects of the class help
your learning?

II.1 Lecture by instructor.
1. Strongly disagree 2 : **
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 3 : ***
4. Agree 24 : ************************ [4.1 +/- 1.0]
5. Strongly agree 20 : ********************

II.2 Working in groups on FAL (Facilitated Assisted Learning) activities.
1. Strongly disagree 4 : ****
2. Disagree 2 : *******
3. Neutral 8 : ********
4. Agree 16 : **************** [4.0 +/- 1.3]
5. Strongly agree 22 : **********************

II.3 Using clickers to participate in class.
1. Strongly disagree 3 : ***
2. Disagree 5 : *****
3. Neutral 15 : ***************
4. Agree 20 : ******************** [3.5 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 9 : *********

II.4 Reading the textbook.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 13 : *************
4. Agree 24 : ************************ [3.8 +/- 0.9]
5. Strongly agree 12 : ************

II.5 Demonstrations/videos in class.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 28 : ****************************
4. Agree 10 : ********** [3.5 +/- 0.9]
5. Strongly agree 10 : **********

II.6 Interacting with other students during class.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 3 : ***
3. Neutral 11 : ***********
4. Agree 23 : *********************** [3.9 +/- 0.9]
5. Strongly agree 14 : **************

II.7 Interacting with other students outside of class.
1. Strongly disagree 0 :
2. Disagree 4 : ****
3. Neutral 12 : ************
4. Agree 22 : ********************** [3.9 +/- 0.9]
5. Strongly agree 14 : **************

III. Answer the following statements which may or may not describe
your beliefs about the use of clickers in this class.

III.1 I like using clickers.
1. Strongly disagree 3 : ***
2. Disagree 5 : *****
3. Neutral 10 : **********
4. Agree 26 : ************************** [3.6 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 8 : ********

III.2 Clickers helped me understand lectures better.
1. Strongly disagree 3 : ***
2. Disagree 11 : ***********
3. Neutral 24 : ************************ [3.0 +/- 1.1]
4. Agree 9 : *********
5. Strongly agree 5 : *****

III.3 I would recommend using clickers in future semesters of this class.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 6 : ******
3. Neutral 15 : ***************
4. Agree 22 : ********************** [3.6 +/- 0.9]
5. Strongly agree 8 : ********

III.4 I will avoid other classes using clickers in future semesters.
1. Strongly disagree 14 : **************
2. Disagree 28 : **************************** [2.0 +/- 2.0]
3. Neutral 9 : *********
4. Agree 0 :
5. Strongly agree 1 : *

III.5 Clickers were a positive experience.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 7 : *******
3. Neutral 14 : **************
4. Agree 26 : ************************** [3.5 +/- 0.9]
5. Strongly agree 4 : ****

III.6 Too much time in class was spent using clickers.
1. Strongly disagree 7 : *******
2. Disagree 32 : ******************************** [2.2 +/- 1.2]
3. Neutral 9 : *********
4. Agree 2 : **
5. Strongly agree 2 : **

III.7 Too many clicker questions were asked.
1. Strongly disagree 10 : **********
2. Disagree 30 : ****************************** [2.1 +/- 1.5]
3. Neutral 10 : **********
4. Agree 2 : **
5. Strongly agree 0 :

III.8 Using clickers was difficult.
1. Strongly disagree 18 : ******************
2. Disagree 24 : ************************ [1.9 +/- 2.6]
3. Neutral 6 : ******
4. Agree 4 : ****
5. Strongly agree 0 :

IV. (Optional.) Please type in any comments you may have regarding
the use of clickers in Chemistry 210FL.
The following are all of the student responses to this question, verbatim and unedited.
"Clickers are way too expensive especially if you are taking a class just as a prerequiste for another class that doesn't have a clicker."

"I thought the cost of the clicker which was $20 something and to register the clicker which was $14 was to much considering the text books where around $200. The actual using of the clicker in class was just ok for me."

"The clicker situation started off poorly. Problems with getting it going were detrimental but overall I think it is time beneficial over handing out quizes and gathering them. One problem is that I think they are "busy" work but understand that in the JC system it makes sense to require students to stay current."

"To expensive! I am a poor student and I was barely able to offord this product and its registration after buying the clickers and buyin all of my text-books for this classe. I thought the clickers were just an extra thing to spend money on. But, over all I can see some positive things using the Clickers. 1) It helps the teacher greading students on participation. 2) It helps some students who are shy to participate none-verbally in some of the classes activities. But,I still think it's to costly, since I don't have problems raising my hand to participate."

"Only one day so far did I have an issue getting the clicker to send my answers in and felt like I wasn't given enough time to submit "send" then answers. Still don't know if I got the credit for those questions that I completed correctly on paper."

"im more traditional with the paper and pen deal. i dont like the clickers to much but its ok"

"I think they work good and are lot easier that passing out papers. Then takin the time to collect them."

"not about clickers...just the FAL's are useless, a waste of time. Having them in a lab room is so uncomfortable with knees jammed in drawers, not helpful at all, not to mention a "facilitator" who doesn't seem sure of the answers herself. Nice person, but after the first week we don't even really seek her help. Also, I was often lost doing the FAL and then the next lecture would include what I needed to do the FAL that was already due. That was frustrating. Thanks for listening!"

"the only thing i didn't like about the clickers was when the professor changed part of some of the practice problems two minutes before she asked us to enter the CORRECT answer. if your going to assign problems for us to do, and we did the work you should keep it that way."

"The clickers were a good and fun way to learn the material. Just that when the system doesnt cooperate and haveing difficulties connecting to the recievers and loosing points because of the time limit. Overall on a scale 1-10 I give the clickers an 8"

"I REALLY FELT RUSHED THE FIRST TIME WE USED THEM. IT WAS DIFFICULT TO FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT AND THEN WE WERE BEING TIMED AND IT CAUSED ME TO PANIC AND MESS UP THE FIRST QUIZ."

"i like them but i wish that they weren't so expensive to use. maybe a class set may be possible next semester. Set it up for the students and have them buy them and register them under maybe student 1 or something. Take the initiative and every semester have the money go back to the students that purchased them before the new class. That way they are free for everyone. And you have a replacement plan in case someone wrecks one. I know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense but it makes a lot of sense in my head. Hope you can figure out the mess i just typed. haha"

"More time spent on mass, volume and density."

"Going "green" is always a good idea."

"The clickers are cool, it makes it easier to be involved in the class."

"Clickers were a waste of money both in upfront costs and subscription fees. The device itself is a good idea, but why does it have to be linked to an expensive subscription service? There has to be a more competitive option."

"I like the idea its very helpful"

"Sometimes the clickers are a little difficult, like in the begnining they didn't wok and we wasted lecture time, but other than that they are cool."

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