President's Teaching Scholars Program

Diane Martichuski

Senior Instructor
University of Colorado Boulder
College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Topic: Teaching of Psychology
345 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309-0345
303.492.4246
diane.martichuski@colorado.edu

a. What is the central question, issue, or problem you plan to explore in your proposed work?
Do clickers enhance learning for factual information as well as learning concepts?

b. Why is your central question, issue, or problem important, to you and to others who might benefit from or build on your findings?

Much research has been done on the use of clickers in classrooms both in terms of student perceptions of clickers and the effect of clickers on learning. Best practices for clicker questions include using a set of clicker questions every 10 to 15 minutes to break up the lecture and check student learning (Premkumar & Coupal, 2008), and students report that they like the breaks in the lecture (Hoekstra, 2008). Students also report that classes are more enjoyable (Sprague & Dahl, 2010), engaging and interesting when clickers are used, especially in large classrooms (Hoekstra, 2008; Shaffer & Collura, 2009). Even students who scored low on a need for cognition scale (indicating that they did not particularly like to learn or think about concepts) also indicated that they enjoyed learning with clickers (Sprague & Dahl, 2010).

Several studies have shown that clickers enhance learning over other types of review formats. In one study, researchers compared clicker questions presented in class (with immediate feedback) to traditional paper and pencil quizzes with the same questions (and delayed feedback), and found that retention was higher when clickers were used (Yourstone, Kraye, & Albaum, 2008). Another study by Mayer and his colleagues (2009) compared clickers with immediate feedback and paper and pencil questions, also with immediate feedback, and found that students in the clicker condition had higher exam scores than students who were exposed to the same questions in paper format. These and other studies show that students are getting help with memory, retention, and test scores with the use of clickers.

Less research has been done on the types of learning that are enhanced with the use of clickers. One use of clickers is to pose a question to the class, let students discuss the correct answer, and then have students give their responses. Smith and her colleagues (2009) conducted a research experiment where they had students discuss a question and then give a response. They found that individual understanding of the concepts was higher when they used this type of discussion with clicker questions. Sprague and Dahl (2010) found that their students prefer more difficult clicker questions. Hoekstra (2008) showed that students are relieved when clicker questions show that they are not the only ones who are confused about a topic.

The present research seeks to examine factual and conceptual questions, to see if clickers enhance both types of learning equally. Factual questions, like definitions or concepts that students might make flash cards for, can be reviewed easily, and students often memorize these definitions. Conceptual questions, like applying a theory or concept to an example, tend to be more difficult questions for students. For this research study, I will compare clicker-enhanced factual questions and clicker-enhanced concept questions to other questions that we cover in lecture, but which are not clicker-enhanced. I hypothesize that students will do well on factual questions whether or not they are clicker enhanced, but that students will do better applying concepts that are clicker-enhanced.

References:
Hoekstra, A. (2008). Vibrant student voices: Exploring effects of the use of clickers in large college courses. Learning, Media and Technology, 33 (4), 329-341.

Mayer, R. E., Stull, A., DeLeeuw, K., Almeroth, K., Bimber, B., Chun, D., Bulger, M., Campbell, J., Knight, A., & Zhang, H. (2009). Clickers in college classrooms: Fostering learning with questioning methods in large lecture classes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34, 51-57.

Premkumar, K., & Coupal, C. (2008). Rules of engagement - 12 tips for successful use of "clickers" in the classroom. Medical Teacher, 30(2), 146-149.

Shaffer, D. M., & Collura, M. J. (2009). Evaluating the effectiveness of a personal response system in the classroom. Teaching of Psychology, 36, 273-277.

Smith, M. K., Wood, W. B., Adams, W. K., Wieman, C., Knight, J. K., Guild, N., & Su, T. T. (Jan 2, 2009). Why peer discussion improves student performance on in-class concept questions. Science, 323, 122-124.

Sprague, E. W., & Dahl, D. W. (2010). An evaluation of the personal response system clicker technology in Introductory Marketing courses. Journal of Marketing Education, 32(1), 93-103.

Yourstone, S. A., Kraye, H. S., & Albaum, G. (2008). Classroom questioning with immediate electronic response: Do clickers improve learning? Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 6 (1), 75-88.

c. How do you plan to conduct your investigation? What sources of evidence do you plan to examine? What methods might you employ to gather and make sense of this evidence?

I am planning to use my General Psychology class, which will have about 400 students this fall. I will use a 2x2 within-subjects ANOVA design to compare individual student scores for four types of questions on exams: definitions or factual data covered in class with and without clicker-enhanced questions, and conceptual applications covered in class with and without clicker-enhanced questions. The 2 x 2 design is shown below:

For example, I will cover definitions of topics A, B, C, and D, and will have in-class review clicker questions for topics A and B. I will also cover concepts E, F, G, and H, and will have in-class review clicker questions applying the concepts E and F. When I give the exams, I will look at students who were in class for those clicker questions, and will examine their exam items that are relevant to the topics A through H. I will check for differences in their exam scores for items pertaining to those topics.

d. How might you make your work available to others in ways that facilitate scholarly critique and review, and that contribute to thought and practice beyond the local?

I am willing to present my paper not only to my department, but also to others at a professional conference.

e. Include a literature review of the theory and effective teaching practice of the subject of your inquiry in order to locate your research in the literature preceding it.

See above, section B.

f. What is your record of innovation in teaching and/or the assessment of learning?

I have tried to keep up with technology when it becomes available. I have converted all of my lectures into powerpoint presentations, and have used clickers for a few years now in my large classes. I use a course wiki to give students information about the class, including outlines of lectures, practice exams, practice worksheets, and links to information that students might find relevant to their learning.

My assessment has been informal – mostly looking at FCQs to see what students’ responses are to any changes that I make to my classes, or asking students what they think of the available materials.

g. Are you able to attend the required meetings as specified the sections titled, “What are the Benefits?” and “What commitments are expected of participants?”

Yes.

h. Can you suggest an appropriate coach/mentor for your project?

Stephanie Mollborn UCB Sociology –she also did some research on clickers. I have not contacted her, but think she would be a good mentor. Stefanie.Mollborn@Colorado.EDU

i. If your project is selected, are you willing to serve as a coach in PTLC in a future year?

Yes, I think that would be fun.