Overview of Audio Clips
An overview of the audio clips is provided below, arranged by timestamp, subject, and subtopic:
Overview of Personal Response Systems (PRS)
Description and goal: PRS is a popular active learning method that lets students answer questions, typically multiple-choice but also in other formats. Giving students a chance to consider the answer and then respond is crucial.
Basic Methods
- Hands-up: Students raise their hands for the option they have selected (e.g., A, B, C). One drawback is that it can be challenging to count in a large lecture hall, which can result in errors and waste time.
- Paper sheets: Students are given letter-patterned paper, which they fold to reveal their response; ideally, the instructor is the only one who sees it. It can be difficult to read in a large hall, and other students may copy friends' answers that are typically right, making it difficult to measure individual thought.
Any PRS's main benefit: When students publicly respond or assert what they believe to be true, it makes them more committed to the answer and primes them for learning, increasing the likelihood that they will recognize when their response is wrong.
Clickers
Clickers, also known as digital/electronic personal response systems, are the first kind of digital PRS. After logging in, students respond (e.g., A, B, C, D) using a touchpad. Open-ended responses (words or numbers) can be typed on certain clickers.
Instructor Software
Instructor software instantly generates a histogram that displays the response distribution.
Next Steps Based on Response Distribution
- More than 70% correct: You can probably state the right answer and proceed, possibly providing additional resources for students who answered incorrectly.
- Between 30% and 70% correct: It is advised that students discuss their responses with one another in a pair-share activity. Students are asked to vote again after peers have had a chance to present their arguments. Research shows that when students with incorrect answers are paired together, they tend to converge to the correct answer.
- Fewer than 30% correct: Since few students grasp the concept, it is probably best to pause, rephrase your explanation, and go over everything again.
Verifying confidence: Asking students to guess how confident they were can be helpful, even if many of them get the answer correct. It's crucial to know if students got it right but are unsure of why.
More Recent PRS Technology
- Apps for web-enabled devices: Students can use their smartphones or other web-enabled devices to access a virtual room through apps like Socrative. Benefit: Students utilize their own devices; no additional purchases are required. However, the assumption that each student has a web-enabled device and that the teacher is at ease with students using these devices in class are the two main drawbacks.
- Plickers: Presented as a good compromise. How it operates: On a camera-equipped device, the instructor downloads an application. Reusable PDF cards with original designs are distributed to the students. The four sides of each card stand for the letters A, B, C, and D. The software gathers the responses and generates a histogram while the instructor uses their device to scan the crowd.
The histogram provides anonymity for students. Students don't require any additional technology; they just need the piece of paper that the instructor provides. The cards can be printed on sturdy cardstock and are reusable.
Including PRS and Creating Questions
- Educators' first step: Create some excellent, well-considered multiple-choice questions.
- Importance of question quality: Questions should be insightful rather than pointless. If a sizable portion of students give the wrong answer, they ought to be "rich" and encourage discussion and peer interaction.
- Beginning simple: You may use one, two, or three questions in a class at first, but make sure they are well-crafted.
- Deeper integration: Critically evaluate the learning objectives and create a set of questions that aid students in comprehending ideas, motivate them to debate their positions with others, and ultimately assist them in achieving the learning objectives through discussion and interaction with the questions.
PRS Questions as the Foundation of Learning
Key role: Clicker questions can serve as the main framework for your lesson. Learning occurs as a result of answering those questions and participating in the discussion that follows, which is prompted by the answers.
