Peer Instruction Using Clickers

Guest blogger: Mazharul Huq

Our trouble with assessment and Middle States has raised very serious questions about assessment. Successful assessment goes hand in hand with good teaching techniques. Time has come for us to examine very carefully our teaching methods and the tools we use for assessment of student learning.

I have been using a variety of technology in my teaching ranging from online quizzes to PowerPoint presentations. Of course, use of technology does not necessarily mean quality instruction. I must confess that in spite of use of technology my teaching style is not very much different from that used about a hundred years ago for much smaller and specialized audiences. However, it has been changing for the better during the last five to ten years.

The issues that have been troubling me also troubled Eric Mazur of Harvard University, which led him to develop something called peer instruction. Peer instruction is based on concept tests – short conceptual questions on the subject being discussed. The students are first asked to answer a short question (usually multiple choice question) without any discussion with peers. Then they are allowed to discuss the question with students next to them. After the discussion, they answer the question again. The instructor collects the data and analyzes to determine improvement in understanding. In the beginning, Eric Mazur used flash cards and show of hands, which made data collection rather cumbersome and time consuming. Of course, Eric Mazur had graduate assistants to help for classes with a few hundred students. Later on, he used clicker technology to automate data collection.

One and half years ago, with the help of a faculty development grant, I developed a number of instruction modules for peer instruction in my General Physics class with about 30 students. A clicker is a hand-held device with a radio transmitter that can communicate with a receiver connected to a computer at the instructor’s desk. Students log in using user name and password, which identifies the students on the instructor’s computer. The software I used was Notebook, standard software for the Smartboard. Of course, I did not have Smartboard at that time, so I used Notebook with an overhead LED projector.

Each module consisted of five questions. Allowing three minutes for the initial response, three minutes for peer-to-peer discussion, and three minutes for the post discussion response, I could get through a module quite comfortably in a 50-minute period. One great thing about the software was that I could selectively display the results instantaneously including bar and pie charts for the performance. One drawback of the software was that I could not prevent the students from modifying the pre-answer after the discussion. However, that did not happen, except for one or two cases.

The result was quite encouraging showing improvement in learning. However, there were a number of cases when after discussion with peers some students changed their correct answer to a wrong answer. Often students have less confidence in self than confidence in friends. For example, even students knowing Newton’s third law very well fall into a trap with peers and wrongly think: “When a heavy truck collides with a light car, the heavy truck exerts more force on the light truck than the force on the heavy truck from the light car.”

In this season of assessments, the clickers can be a great tool in assessing student learning outcomes. It can be used from student surveys to quizzes and many other innovative assessments. I have a number of suggestions that can encourage faculty to use clickers in classroom instructions.

• The receivers should be permanently attached to computers interfaced with Smartboards. Then faculty do not have to carry the receiver to connect to the desk computer or a laptop.


• Each student should be issued a clicker, which the student can use in all classes. A student is identified in a specific course by his/her username and password for that course. This would allow the faculty not worry about carrying 30 or more clickers to the class, distributing them, and collecting them at the end of the class.


• We should also look for a better type of clicker and software for better delivery mechanism.

I hope Nancy Evans will read this blog and implement these

Reference: Peer Instruction by Eric Mazur, Prentice Hall

How To Get Students To Think About Graduate School

Guest Blogger: Murali Balaji

One of the most interesting transitions I've made in my year-and-a-half at Lincoln is adjusting my teaching approach to students' expectations. Most of my mass communications majors don't give graduate study a second thought, focusing instead on the quickest way to a job.

But in adjusting my approach, I've also been able to get some students to get interested in graduate study. For me, the best method is getting students excited about topical discussions, especially those that get them to think deeply about answers.

In classrooms, especially larger lectures, some students feel uncomfortable expressing their thoughts. Many usually wait for one person to lead, but once a discussion begins, it develops into provocative and stimulating discourse. In mass communications classes, many contemporary issues can be tied to theories, allowing students to more quickly make the connection between theoretical abstract and practice.

As a result, more students are asking whether the kinds of discussions they have in class are what they can expect in graduate school. I tell them that the conversations at Lincoln barely scratch the surface of graduate discussion but that they are a good starting point.

Last year, a number of students asked for extra reading materials that they thought would help them prepare for graduate school. Some admitted that their families were encouraging them to find jobs, or that they were intimidated by the idea of graduate work.

This is where we as educators can help facilitate both the "A-ha" moment and the "can-do" attitude. By being responsive to their concerns and asking them for feedback on critical readings, we are helping to change their perspectives on learning beyond their undergraduate years.

I have also tried to connect students to scholars outside of Lincoln, at least so that they feel like they're not learning in a bubble. When we interact with our students constantly, some of our motivational techniques tend to wear thin on them. That's why a fresh perspective is welcome. In December, I had my dissertation adviser speak at Lincoln, and when he did, he met with several students interested in graduate school but concerned about the steps to getting admitted.

After his visit, a couple of students said they were now excited about the graduate school application process. For me, that's two down, many more young minds to go.

Helping Students Reach their Dreams

Guest Blogger: Kristin Anderson

It started as a typical Sunday on a bitter cold January morning in 2007. My photographer and I approached the news desk, dreading an assignment outside in the blinding snow. Our editor handed us a police press release detailing the events of a drug deal gone bad. We looked at each other, knowing full well that we would not be welcomed guests in the most dangerous housing project in Cleveland.

We drove up to the scene, now empty of the police presence that had filled the area during the shootout. After many years as a television news reporter I had covered this story too often. This time it was a 14-year-old boy who, ironically, lost his life while selling drugs to survive. He never had a father. His mother left him. His grandmother kicked him out and the Cleveland School district gave up on him when he dropped out at the age of 12. He did not even have someone to give him a proper burial. Everyone in his life failed him, no one told him that he mattered. I was haunted by this teen's death. I could not stop asking myself, "What can I do to make a difference?" I tried to write a heart-touching story that would penetrate the television screen and reach the hearts of viewers. It somehow inspired the community to pull together and bury the teenager, but it wasn't enough for me. A year later, I made a life-changing decision to leave television and start teaching upcoming news professionals about the changing world of news and deliver a message that THEY MATTER!

In the past two years in the classroom, from West Chester University to Lincoln, I have found that students know how to dream. They know what they would like out of a career, but they don't fully realize how important they are and how much they have to contribute. As a result, they don't know how to make their dreams turn into reality. When I ask them what they want "to be" after graduation, they often respond with "music producer, news anchor, radio announcer," and that's just from one student. That's impossible! It's great to shoot for the stars but where is the reality? What I am trying to do this semester is get students to focus on their dream and come with a realistic plan to make it happen. I can teach them how to write in broadcast style, how to use the ENG cameras to record professional video, and how to edit using the highest quality equipment in the industry, but it all falls to the wayside without a focused plan.

I'm going to experiment with one class and have them narrow down their career path to just one position. From there I'm going to have them pick a role model in their chosen industry and research how that person reached the top of his/her field. Finally, students will have to come up with a plan of their own to find internships, meet mentors, create resumes and job search. I wish I could blog that I have attempted this approach in the past, at numerous universities, and 100% of the students are successful in their chosen careers; however, the truth is that I don’t know. I am relatively new to this, but I know that something needs to be done to motivate students to reach their potential, to rise up and not be average.

I can't go back in time and save the life of the 14-year-old boy in Cleveland, but I can try to get students to realize that THEY MATTER, and that the world needs what they have to offer!!!