Contact: Rowen Garcia, Director, Academic Development and Services

What Is a SRS?

A student response system, more commonly referred to as “clickers”, is a system that allows instructors to ask questions of the class and receive responses via hand-held remote devices. Student responses are recorded through a receiver attached to the instructor’s workstation. Responses can be graded, summarized and shown to the class in real-time or saved for later viewing.

Goal:

Recommend one standard university-wide SRS system solution by the end of Fall Semester 2006 for rollout in the Spring Semester 2007

Objectives

Test products from more than one vendor

Conduct testing in both small and large classrooms

Conduct side-by-side product comparison

Have both experienced and un-experienced clicker users in the pilot team

Clicker Requirements / Considerations

Minimal Cost

To the student

To the University / Departments

Response confirmation<

Visual confirmation of transmission and receipt

Ease of use

Battery

Type

Life

Accessibility considerations

Receiver Requirements

Accommodate large audience (up to 1000)

Minimal Cost to University / Departments

Work in large classrooms

WiFi interference free

No interference between adjacent classrooms

Faculty Requirements

Ability to load software on all computers in the classrooms and those used by instructors

Easy to use software

Creating questions

Polling

Tabulating results

Grading

Used with multiple applications

Powerpoint

Other applications

Clicker registration process

Via Web

CMS system (e.g. WebCT

Import from Excel

Roster creation

Web

Import from Excel

Interface with WebCT

Roster creation

Grading

Other Considerations

Virtual Clicker using handheld or mobile devices

Mac Version

LCD version of clickers

Applications

Quiz at the start of class to review previous class materials

Class participation to gauge student’s understanding of current material

Further exploration of material

Follow up discussion

Take attendance

Peer Instruction (PI), a technique developed by Eric Mazur (1997)

Students answer a question first without discussion and then again after a short period of group discussion with their peers. This activity engages students directly in teaching and learning.

Radio Frequency Technology

One receiver can accommodate up to 1,000 clickers

300-foot range

No pointing required

Receiver

Small USB Device

Easy to install

Mobility

Downside:More expensive than Infrared receiver

Identified Vendors for Pilot

Turning Technologies (www.turningtechnologies.com)

Product:TurningPoint Rf

eInstruction(www.einstruction.com)

Product:CPS Rf

Project Timeline

Date (2006)	Event	Status
May	Kick-off Meeting	Completed
May / June	Product demo / Training	Completed
Summer	Product Familiarization and Testing	In-Process
Fall Semester	Pilot
Late December	Recommendation

Resources

Educause - 7 Things You Should Know About Clickers

Clickers in the Classroom – by Doug Duncan