Library:TLAC Forums Clickers in the Library Classroom

Clickers in the Library Classroom

Wednesday, August 25th from 1-2 pm in the B.C. Gas Conference Room (RM 742, Koerner Library, 604-822-8677)

iClickers, the next generation of classroom tools, are coming to a classroom or department near you. This new version is quick and simple to set up and to use and because their use across campus is growing many students are already required to have one.

“Clickers are wireless personal response systems that can be used in a classroom to anonymously and rapidly collect an answer to a question from every student; an answer for which they are individually accountable. This allows rapid reliable feedback to both the instructor and the students. Clickers are not a magic bullet – they are not necessarily useful as an end in themselves. They become useful when the instructor has a clear idea as to what they want to achieve with them, and the questions are designed to improve student engagement, student-student interaction (on-topic), and instructor-student interaction.” - from the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative web site: http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/clickers.htm

A number of folks here at UBC Library have started using clickers as a teaching tool in their library instruction sessions to assess what students already know and identify areas requiring further review. They can also be used to identify differences in understanding within a group of participants, promoting group conversation and greater understanding.

Charlotte Beck will help us kick off this session by sharing her recent experience using iClickers with the Master of Physical Therapy students. Having used the previous clunky clickers, she will demonstrate what the latest version can do, talk about interactions with faculty, and share some ideas she has for future use.

After her 15-minute presentation, we’ll all have an opportunity to share our own experiences using clickers, ask more questions about them, and consider contexts in which they might be most useful within our instructional program as well as part of our staff training sessions.

Key Messages

Charlotte reported on her experience using clickers with Rehab Science students. She highlighted 3 key areas to consider in preparing to use clickers for library instruction.

Equipment set-up. While the new iClickers are much easier to use than older models, Charlotte confirmed that you still want to test them first in the room where you'll eventually be teaching.
Pedagogy for clicker use. Consider how you'll use the clickers, and what kinds of questions you'll ask.
Classroom management. Prepare for the balancing act that includes typing, talking, clicking as well as assessing how you and your class is going throughout.

Charlotte also shared some of the ways she has used clickers to promote active learning in the classroom.

Use them to assess students' prior knowledge of a topic/concept. Find out what students already know.
Use them to stimulate discussion. Ask students to answer a question individually. Show the results. Then ask them to pair up, discuss the question and answer it again. Compare the differences in responses before and after discussion.
Use them to get students attention.
Can also use them for formal assessment. Charlotte has not done this yet, but there are classes where clickers responses are marked.

A few other clicker tidbits...

With the increased uptake of iclickers on campus, it's good PR for the library to use them as it creates an opportunity for dialogue with faculty and it's easy to do as the institution supports it.
The new iClickers can be used with Powerpoint and without it. You can use them to poll on the fly.
Good clicker questions are ones in which at least 50% of the class will get the answer wrong...promotes discussion.
For a 50 minutes class, plan to ask 3-5 clicker questions and no more.
The hardest part is asking good questions...do you have some?

Resources

Below are some of the resources, strategies, approached we discussed, along with who at UBC is using them so you can follow up!

Clicker Resources, Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative

Clickers, UBC e-Learning Toolkit, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology

i>Clickers at UBC | Skylight, The Science Centre for Learning and Teaching, UBC

Sample Questions:

LFS 100: Introduction to Library Research

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