Clicker

Clicker

David Clarke, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Definitions and background

Clickers are synchronous electronic voting devices (Tong, 2012) that are particularly popular with instructors of large lecture classes (MacGeorge et al., 2008). In the United States, clickers are commonly referred to as key-pads, and as handsets or zappers in the United Kingdom (Laxman, 2011). However, they are also known by various other names such as audience response systems (ARSs), personal response systems (PRSs) and electronic voting systems (Laxman, 2011). Physically, these small handheld wireless devices (Tong, 2012) resemble a television remote control (Lundeberg et al., 2011), typically with a numeric keypad, function keys that allow for text entry, a send button and a power switch (Laxman, 2011). Students' clickers connect to a receiver attached to the instructor's computer that runs what is essentially presentation software (Lundeberg et al., 2011). This technology therefore allows instructors to pose questions, receive immediate responses from students and project student responses on to a screen in a variety of different formats all in real time (Turban, 2011).

Affordances

The principle advantage of clicker technology lies in its ability to facilitate interaction between students and instructor, albeit in a mediated format (Lennox Terrion & Aceti, 2012), thus providing instant feedback to both students and instructor on how well the class as a whole understands the concepts presented (Kay, 2009). These benefits have been primarily observed in large classrooms where personal feedback and interaction with instructors is more challenging (Hill & Babbitt, 2013). Use of clickers in large lecture classrooms is especially helpful in overcoming challenges such as student inattention and distraction (Lennox Terrion & Aceti, 2012). The principle feature of clicker technology is that it allows instructors to pose multiple choice format questions by means of slides projected onto a screen to which students click their responses (Laxman, 2011). When all responses are received, the results are projected onto the screen for the entire class to see—typically anonymously although it is also possible to identify respondents (Nielsen, Hansen, & Stav, 2013). Individual student and class data can be saved from each session, allowing responses to be analyzed and displayed in various graphical forms (Hill & Babbitt, 2013). As put forward by Lennox Terrion and Aceti (2012), clickers make it possible for large lecture class activities to mirror to some extent the type of exercises, quizzes and team-based activities that are successfully used to engage students in small classrooms. Quizzes are often employed at the beginning of lectures in order to assess student understanding of prior material and/or readings (Lennox Terrion & Aceti, 2012), to emphasize key concepts, and to enable students to focus and settle down at the start of the class (Laxman, 2011). Additionally, instructors may quiz students following particularly challenging sections of lectures to check student understanding and respond by providing additional examples or more detailed explanations if necessary (Nielsen et al., 2013). Additionally, clickers are helpful in sustaining attention by punctuating content delivery (Laxman, 2011). Importantly, clickers—simply by being clicked—allow students to anonymously voice their lack of comprehension of material, allowing instructors to respond without drawing attention to the student (Gachago, Morris, & Simon, 2011). Thus clickers encourage student participation through the anonymity they offer—which is especially valuable when the language of instruction is not the student’s primary language (Gachago, Morris, & Simon, 2011). As such, clickers facilitate immediate feedback to students from instructors in large classrooms and allow students to assess their knowledge of concepts as well as their level of understanding relative to their peers (Lennox Terrion & Aceti, 2012). As indicated by Laxman (2005), students have positive attitudes towards clicker technology; and the use of clickers is also associated with increased student attention, and higher interest and engagement levels during classes.