20090304

Education research: preliminary feedback on clickers (Cuesta College, Physics 205A, Spring Semester 2009)

Cuesta College students taking Physics 205A (college physics, algebra-based, mandatory adjunct laboratory) at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA use numerical keypad clickers (Classroom Performance System, einstruction.com) to enter homework and to engage in peer-interaction ("think-(pair)-share") discussion questions during lecture.

Through the fifth and sixth weeks of instruction (third and fourth weeks of using clickers), 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
Physics 205A Spring Semester 2009 sections 30880, 30881
(N = 35)

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 3 : ***
3. Neutral 7 : *******
4. Agree 13 : ************* [3.7 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 8 : ********

II.2 Doing assigned homework, to be entered using clickers.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 1 : *
3. Neutral 9 : *********
4. Agree 13 : ************* [3.9 +/- 1.0]
5. Strongly agree 10 : **********

II.3 Doing practice homework.
1. Strongly disagree 0 :
2. Disagree 1 : *
3. Neutral 7 : *******
4. Agree 18 : ****************** [4.0 +/- 0.7]
5. Strongly agree 8 : ********

II.4 Using clickers to participate in class.
1. Strongly disagree 2 : **
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 4 : ****
4. Agree 16 : **************** [3.9 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 10 : **********

II.5 Reading the textbook.
1. Strongly disagree 3 : ***
2. Disagree 6 : ******
3. Neutral 8 : ********
4. Agree 19 : ******************* [3.6 +/- 1.2]
5. Strongly agree 9 : *********

II.6 Demonstrations/videos in class.
1. Strongly disagree 2 : **
2. Disagree 5 : *****
3. Neutral 11 : ***********
4. Agree 12 : ************ [3.3 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 4 : ****

II.7 Interacting with other students during class.
1. Strongly disagree 3 : ***
2. Disagree 0 :
3. Neutral 6 : ******
4. Agree 11 : ***********
5. Strongly agree 14 : ************** [4.0 +/- 1.2]

II.8 Interacting with other students outside of class.
1. Strongly disagree 2 : **
2. Disagree 3 : ***
3. Neutral 14 : ************** [3.3 +/- 1.0]
4. Agree 13 : *************
5. Strongly agree 2 : **

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 2 : **
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 3 : ***
4. Agree 15 : *************** [4.0 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 12 : ************

III.2 Clickers helped me understand lectures better.
1. Strongly disagree 1 : *
2. Disagree 4 : ****
3. Neutral 13 : ************* [3.4 +/- 1.0]
4. Agree 11 : ***********
5. Strongly agree 4 : ****

III.3 I would recommend using clickers in future semesters of Physics 205A.
1. Strongly disagree 3 : ***
2. Disagree 2 : **
3. Neutral 4 : ****
4. Agree 11 : ***********
5. Strongly agree 14 : ************** [3.9 +/- 1.3]

III.4 I will avoid other classes using clickers in future semesters.
1. Strongly disagree 14 : ************** [2.0 +/- 2.6]
2. Disagree 13 : *************
3. Neutral 3 : ***
4. Agree 2 : **
5. Strongly agree 2 : **

III.5 Clickers were a positive experience.
1. Strongly disagree 2 : **
2. Disagree 1 : *
3. Neutral 5 : *****
4. Agree 17 : ***************** [3.9 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 9 : *********

III.6 Too much time in class was spent using clickers.
1. Strongly disagree 7 : *******
2. Disagree 14 : ************** [2.4 +/- 1.6]
3. Neutral 6 : *****
4. Agree 3 : ***
5. Strongly agree 3 : ***

III.7 Too many clicker questions were asked.
1. Strongly disagree 6 : ******
2. Disagree 19 : ******************* [2.2 +/- 1.4]
3. Neutral 6 : ******
4. Agree 1 : *
5. Strongly agree 2 : **

III.8 Clickers should be used to collect assigned homework.
1. Strongly disagree 2 : **
2. Disagree 4 : ****
3. Neutral 10 : **********
4. Agree 14 : ************** [3.4 +/- 1.1]
5. Strongly agree 4 : ****

III.9 Using clickers was difficult.
1. Strongly disagree 13 : *************
2. Disagree 18 : ****************** [1.7 +/- 2.3]
3. Neutral 2 : **
4. Agree 1 : *
5. Strongly agree 0 :

IV. (Optional.) Please type in any comments you may have regarding
the use of clickers in Physics 205A.
The following are all of the student responses to this question, verbatim and unedited.
"They are a good way to get articipation points and are fun to use."

"Clickers are very useful due to the anonymity given to the people with wrong answers, or right answers. The embarassment and destruction of the ego of a wrong clicker answer pales in comparison to that of a wrong answer said outloud."

"I feel that the class lecture is way to short for the amount of information that is needed to complete the homework. I find myself very lost when it comes to the homework questions, and had to get a tutor to teach me instead of learning how to complete the homework questions in class."

"i think clickers is really cool and easy to use. like to see more classes using it."

"All the technology in the world can't make a person learn."

"The instant feedback in class is very helpful!"

"Clickers make the class room environment fun, but they do not teach the concepts to be successful in the course."

"The clickers help during the lecture period. It gives the students real participation points and helps me be more interactive with my classmates."

"I like the clicker because I don't have to worry about turning in well organized written homework. I can scribble out a problem cross things out and make a mess of it, but that's OK as long as I figure out how to do it and enter the right answer using the clicker. Getting the problem correct and understand the concept to me is the most important part of homework and in class participation not whether you took the time to clean up your work and make it presentable. There are times where showing your work is important but there are other times when it's just busy work that wastes time. I like the clicker."

"I like using clickers and discussing my answers with the other students in the class, it helps me get a better grasp on how to go about solving the problems. However I think it is maybe more helpful to me when the instructor shows us how to do a few example problems step by step on the board."

"I like the clickers, but I think there is a lot of set up time for it, and going over collecting answers and stuff. But for collecting HW there perfect, because it gives us that time to talk to classmates, and to get everyone ready for class by getting stuff out. I have taken physics before, but a compliant I hear is you just do a lot of example problems, and not actually explain/lecture. I am enjoying the class please do not get that wrong though."

"I wish you would lecture more rather than just asking clicker questions. I personally learn better when the teacher actually does example problems on the board instead of asking clicker questions."

"The in class clicker questions were very helpful. The homework collection using clickers discourages me from doing the homework at home."

"I like using the clickers, it lets us interact in the class."

"I think using the clickers for participation points is a good idea. I would prefer to have formals and various types of problems demonstrated more though because it seems like we only go over the one same type of question from the homework most of the time. More explanation and discussion about the topics (why things work the way they do) would be more helpful than just only having a few basic questions on the clicker be the lecture."

"I enjoy using the clickers because they are somthing different and it made class a little different, however, I feel it can detract (generally) from the completness of a lecture. I very much like having sample problems broken down up front on the board and the system used to solve each example implemented with step by step actions to help guide a students mind to gain intuative abilities, espcially when it comes to physics problems. I am comming to realize that what we are doing is not complecated mathmatics but, instead of using clickers for conceptual reasoning, simple, real life examples might be utilized to communicate the level of what we are really talking about. I have been enjoying this class so far, just somtimes when it comes to the clickers most obvious at times, seems least obvious...though, overall, thumbs up p-dog!"

"the idea of the clikers is good but i felt like it took away from all other type of lecture. all we do is clicker questions in class, and i fell that it takes away from you lecturing on how to do it."

"Some student that are in the student disabilities program may have trouble with it, whether it is a student who cannot see, who process information longer, and other things."

"It's an efficient way for collecting, grading and posting points from homework. I like anything that makes it easier for me to see my current standing in the class. Being able to see homework and participation points online is wonderful. I believe that practice problems are the best way to understand class material and that assigned homework is the best way to get students to do problems. If clickers facilitate that for you, the instructor, then keep using them!"

"I like using the clickers, I think it is great how quickly information can be obtained and it gives a chance to take more time on questions that the class is having trouble with. I recommend using clickers in classes structured this way."

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