What Are the Benefits of Using
Personal Response Systems?
Uses of Personal Response
Systems
•Stimulate Classroom Discussion
•After initial answer, pair students or have class discussion
about the polling results which in turn fosters critical thinking
skills
•Re-poll after discussion to see how knowledge, attitudes or
opinions have changed
•Assess Students’ Comprehension of course
Material through low-stakes testing
•Allows students to gauge their own mastery of concepts
•Provides Immediate Feedback to Faculty on
students’ understanding
•“just in time” teaching
•2-4 questions per 50 minute period
•This allows time for peer teaching and group discussion
• Questions should have a clearly defined
pedagogical goal such as:
• Drawing out background knowledge
• Discovering points of confusion or misconception
• Distinguishing two related concepts
• Question Wrap-up is an important part of the
process
• Summarization firms student understanding before
moving on to next topic
•Difference between what students are exposed to
and what they learn
– Measure what students know before you start to
teach them
–Measure student attitudes
–Find out if they’ve done the reading
–Get students to confront common misconceptions
–Test student understanding
–Increase student’s retention of what you teach
• Active participation = longer retention
–Facilitate discussion and peer teaching
–Increase class attendance
–Improve student attitudes
–Easy and effective way to increase student participation
• fun, anonymous and unthreatening manner
94%
1. Clickers increased student
engagement in the classroom
6%
0%
87%
2. Clickers increased student
participation in the course
13%
0%
Agree or Strongly agree
Neutral
Disagree or Strongly Disagree
68%
3. Clickers facilitatied good
interactions betweens
students in the course
23%
10%
82%
4. Clickers allowed me to
stimulate class discussion
based on data received
10%
8%
(Kaleta,, & Joosten, 2007)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
69%
1. Clickers led me to become
engaged in the class
18%
13%
70%
2. Clickers increased the
frequency of my participation
in the course.
Agree or Strongly Agree
17%
Neutral
Disagree or Strongly Disagree
13%
67%
3. Using clickers helped me to
pay attention in class.
17%
16%
(Kaleta,, & Joosten, 2007)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Clickers allowed me to assess
student knowledge on a
particular concept
100%
0%
0%
74%
Agree or Strongly Agree
Clickers have been beneficial
to my students' learning
26%
Neutral
Disagree or Strongly Disagree
0%
Clickers have increased my
students' overall performance
in the class
58%
35%
6%
(Kaleta,, & Joosten, 2007)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
•Instructors must learn new skills and roles
•Instructors must become comfortable with the
new technology and be able to troubleshoot any
technical glitches during class
•Requires a new way of designing instruction
•Must view themselves as engineers of learning
experiences rather than a dispenser of knowledge
(Beatty, I, 2004)
•Classroom management and Quick Thinking
•Become a learning coach instead of
•Giving up control
•PRS turns control over to the students while they
debate and defend their position after viewing other’s
response
Beatty, I, Initials. (2004). Transforming studetn learning with classroom
communication systems. Educase Applied Research Center, 2004(3),
Retrieved from
D'Arcy,C., Initials, Eastburn, D., Initials, & Mullally, K., Initials. (2007).
Effective use of a personal response system in a general education
palnt pathology class. APS net, The Plant Health Instructor, Retrieved
from
http://apsnet.org/Education/InstructorCommunication/TeachingArticle
s/PRSPathology/default.htm doi: 10.1094
Kaleta,, R., & Joosten, T. (2007). Student response systems: a univesity of
wisconsin system study of clickers. Educase Center for Applied REsearch,
2007(10), Retrieved from
http://ctl.stanford.edu/PRS/Kaleta_Joosten_PRS_Wisconsin.pd