MULTIPLE USES OF CLICKERS INTEGRATED INTO A LEARNING ACTIVITY SEQUENCE IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOLOGY

Clickers are part of a learning-activity sequence (LAS) (Pun & Smith, 2009, GSA Abst Prog 41(7):94) that integrates in-class instruction with structured out-of-class learning in introductory nonmajors physical geology classes (enrollments 90-130). The LAS combines online and in-class learning and assessment: Reading quizzes before, active learning during and learning assessments after class.

The pedagogy of clicker use is multi-modal, with uses serving different purposes within the LAS and providing variety to classroom activities for students. Clickers are employed in three ways during class. (1) Questions to assess fundamental learning from assigned reading that is applied during an upcoming lecture tutorial. This use of clickers provides an incentive for reading before class (because of low-stakes grading of responses) and permits the instructor to employ just-in-time instruction to strengthen student understanding of poorly-grasped concepts. (2) Questions following a lecture tutorial assess individual learning from the small-group assignment and removes the need to collect and review large numbers of papers as a formative assessment of student learning. (3) Peer instruction (Mazur, 1997, Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual, Pearson) is utilized during lecture segments to engage students with presented material and assess their understanding before moving on. Peer-instruction is sometimes used with approaches 1 and 2 when the percentage of correct student answers is unsatisfactory.

The effectiveness of clicker use cannot be isolated from the overall LAS approach. Nonetheless, 80.5% of 379 students anonymously surveyed over 5 semesters indicate (strongly agree, agree) that clickers help them understand a concept. A large majority (81.8%) claim that they would attend class to use clickers and other in-class activities even if these activities had no point value because of the learning value associated with their use. Success may also be indirectly measured as these course sections had the highest percentage of students receiving a grade of C or higher (80% overall) among all of the sections offered. Students also demonstrated 73-96% competency in achieving stated learning outcomes for the course.