International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Volume 3, Number 2, July 2009

Return to current issues page

Research Article

Excerpt

Clickers in Large Classes: From Student Perceptions Towards an Understanding of Best Practices

Handheld wireless transponders, commonly referred to as ‘clickers’, are similar to standard household remote controls. The present study advances a dialogue in the literature about the specific ways in which clickers may be effectively used in the classroom. The present study was a survey of 516 students who were using clickers in a university course in 2006 or 2007. Student perceptions related to the use of clickers were more favorable in 2007 than in 2006. In addition, responses were more positive among introductory psychology students compared to other participants. Almost half (46%) of the responses to an open-ended question about the ‘most helpful’ uses of clickers included comments that the clickers had helped in some way with understanding course material, and almost 20% said that the clickers had helped them to prepare for examinations.

View Full Article

Bio

Marc Patry
Saint Mary's University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Marc.Patry@smu.ca

I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. After my undergraduate education at Castleton State in Vermont, I went on to graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where I earned a Master of Legal Studies and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology. After working for four years as an Assistant Professor at my alma mater in Vermont, in 2005 I moved to my current position. My ongoing research includes work on teaching and learning, correctional psychology, and law and public policy. For more information on my current research and teaching interests, please visit my web page.

Website: http://husky1.stmarys.ca/~mpatry/welcome.htm.

Return to current issues page