At the start of Spring semester 2008, Cuesta College students taking Physics 5A (college physics, algebra-based, mandatory adjunct laboratory) at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA have begun use of numerical keypad clickers (Classroom Performance System,
einstruction.com) to enter homework and to engage in peer-interaction discussion questions during lecture.
During the third 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, with some preliminary commentary. No statistical analysis was done, but will be forthcoming after more data has been compiled at the end of this semester. 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
Physics 5A Spring Semester 2008 sections 4987, 4988
(N = 33)
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 0 :
2. Disagree 3 : ***
3. Neutral 8 : ********
4. Agree 16 : **************** [3.8 +/- 0.9]
5. Strongly agree 6 : ******
II.2 Doing assigned homework, to be entered using clickers.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 5 : *****
3. Neutral 4 : ****
4. Agree 16 : **************** [3.7 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 7 : *******
II.3 Doing unassigned homework.
1. Strongly disagree 2 : **
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 9 : *********
4. Agree 15 : *************** [3.6 +/- 1.0]
5. Strongly agree 5 : *****
II.4 Using clickers to participate in class.
1. Strongly disagree 4 : ****
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 6 : ****** [3.4 +/- 1.1]
4. Agree 18 : ******************
5. Strongly agree 3 : ***
II.5 Reading the textbook.
1. Strongly disagree 0 :
2. Disagree 3 : ***
3. Neutral 6 : ******
4. Agree 16 : **************** [3.9 +/- 0.9]
5. Strongly agree 8 : ********
II.6 Demonstrations/videos in class.
1. Strongly disagree 0 :
2. Disagree 1 : *
3. Neutral 8 : ********
4. Agree 21 : ********************* [3.8 +/- 0.6]
5. Strongly agree 3 : ***
II.7 Interacting with other students during class.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 4 : ****
3. Neutral 7 : *******
4. Agree 17 : ***************** [3.6 +/- 1.0]
5. Strongly agree 4 : ****
II.8 Interacting with other students outside of class.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 5 : *****
3. Neutral 15 : *************** [3.4 +/- 1.1]
4. Agree 5 : *****
5. Strongly agree 7 : *******
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 3 : ***
3. Neutral 9 : ********* [3.4 +/- 1.1]
4. Agree 15 : ***************
5. Strongly agree 3 : ***
III.2 Clickers helped me understand lectures better.
1. Strongly disagree 5 : *****
2. Disagree 5 : *****
3. Neutral 12 : ************ [2.9 +/- 1.1]
4. Agree 11 : ***********
5. Strongly agree 0 :
III.3 I would recommend using clickers in future semesters of Physics 5A.
1. Strongly disagree 3 : ***
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 11 : *********** [3.4 +/- 1.1]
4. Agree 14 : **************
5. Strongly agree 3 : ***
III.4 I will avoid other classes using clickers in future semesters.
1. Strongly disagree 6 : ******
2. Disagree 15 : *************** [2.4 +/- 1.1]
3. Neutral 7 : *******
4. Agree 3 : ***
5. Strongly agree 2 : **
III.5 Clickers were a positive experience.
1. Strongly disagree 2 : **
2. Disagree 3 : ***
3. Neutral 10 : ********** [3.4 +/- 1.0]
4. Agree 16 : ****************
5. Strongly agree 2 : **
III.6 Too much time in class was spent using clickers.
1. Strongly disagree 4 : ****
2. Disagree 14 : **************
3. Neutral 5 : ***** [2.8 +/- 1.3]
4. Agree 5 : *****
5. Strongly agree 4 : ****
III.7 Too many clicker questions were asked.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 17 : *****************
3. Neutral 10 : ********** [2.6 +/- 0.9]
4. Agree 4 : ****
5. Strongly agree 1 : *
III.8 Clickers should be used to collect assigned homework.
1. Strongly disagree 4 : ****
2. Disagree 3 : ***
3. Neutral 9 : ********* [3.2 +/- 1.1]
4. Agree 15 : ***************
5. Strongly agree 2 : **
III.9 Using clickers was difficult.
1. Strongly disagree 13 : *************
2. Disagree 17 : ***************** [1.7 +/- 0.6]
3. Neutral 3 : ***
4. Agree 0 :
5. Strongly agree 0 :
Tthe responses in section III are generally positive towards the use of clickers. Some students were initially enthusiastic regarding clickers, but a vocal minority strongly expressed their comments below, especially with regards to cost and/or usefulness.
IV. (Optional.) Please type in any comments you may have regarding the use
of clickers in Physics 5A.
The following are all of the student responses to this question, verbatim and unedited.
"They are cool except hard to make sure sig figs are right when
trying to type in scientific notation. But overall cool!"
"it's something new to me and i like it it keeps class
interesting and is a unique way of learning and processing
information."
"Easy to use, fast, and interesting to see the different
answers of the class."
"They work just fine to convey our thoughts to the teacher.
However I feel that they often times disrupt the flow of
instruction which I beilieve is very important. The fact
that it is required makes it more difficult to enjoy
knowing it doesn't improve the learning enough for 20 or so
dollars spent on it.I feel it great tool to gather
valuable data fron students to improve educational
methods. However I ask at what cost? I believe the
instruction time lost and the opportunities for negative
learning experience out way the benefits.I think they
would be best used for surveys or group assignments were
time is set aside specifically their use. Clickers
should not be mandatory and students should be paid to
participate in any data collecting processes. Private
companies who sell ideas,programs or methods founded on
data collected from students should compensate students."
"The only downside is clicker style answers don't often
show thought processes that went into solving the answer,
however the use of participation points vs. correct points
is a nice addition to the class experience. Keeps the
students paying attention without penalizing them for
mistakes."
"the best thing about the clickers is not having to get
up and try to get around everyone to turn stuff in."
"I don't like the clickers at all. I feel that it takes
valuable time away from the lecture. Our lecture is only
an hour long and the clickers waste a lot of this very
valuable time. The only positive aspect of the clickers
is that it is an easy way for the professor to get
everyone to participate. Without the clickers, it tends
to be the same group of people answering the questions
every class session. Also, I suppose it allows the
professor to gauge where the class stands. Both of these
do nothing to help the class learn. They are a waste of
valuable class time, please get rid of them!"
"I fell that some of the clicker questions are unclear."
"I feel that the cllickers is a good way to see how
others in the class are responding but they do not
involve active discussion about the toopic on hand.
It is a bit isolating using clickers in my opinion.
I would not like to use them during lectures but for
homemork it is nice."
"I think that sometimes we spend too much time
worrying about clicker questions instead of
understanding what is being covered in the lecture.
However, the clickers do provide a welcoming way to
participate with the class."
"I think the clickers are a great, however, I believe
that we spend too much time on them and letting us take
to o try and comprehend the material."
"I really think they are a waste of time. Its great that
you get easy points but there has to be another way of
giving credit. I was very upset at how much they cost
plus registration because I did not get a new $144 book
I instead am borrowing a friends. It is a rip off to
the struggling students like myself. What happened to
the good ol' days of raising hands?"
"Clikers are ok but I think I learn more with the teacher
giving a lecture. Clickers are good in the sense that it
gives everyone a chance to participate and it helps
retain the focus of everyone. When homework is assigned,
we give our answers back in clickers, I think thats a
good idea, but then to also go over any questions that
we may have with any of the homework as well."
"I think it's a great way to get a pulse on all the
students in a large class and for the students themselves
to participate in the lecture, which helps in learning."
"The class gets broken up by using the clickers and
waiting for everyone to enter their answers. It would
work better for me if the teacher would lecture and use
class to answer questions verbally. The class lecture
could be more fluid if it was not broken by the clicker
entry sessions or the fact that the entire class does not
know what the answers are most of the time. If more time
was spent on the matterial than on the questions then
maybe we could learn from the lectures instead of on our
own with the book that some of us can not afford at
around $200."
The evolution of these opinions will be tracked when this survey is administered to students later this semester.
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