1. Agile Teaching with Technology: Clickers, Blogs, and More Derek Bruff Asst. Director, Center for Teaching Sr. Lecturer, Mathematics Vanderbilt University
5. Your sister-in-law calls to say that she's having twins.Which of the following is more likely?(Assume that she’s not having identical twins.) Twin boys Twin girls One boy and one girl All are equally likely 0 of 5
15. Which of the following (would) make agile teaching with clickers challenging for you? Mark all that apply. It’s too chaotic. I prefer to have my lessons well planned. I worry I won’t have time to cover what I need to. My students would prefer to take notes and figure things out later. I worry I’ll find out my great explanations aren’t so great. None of the above. I agile teaching. 0 of 5
17. A Few Clicker Vendors Turning Technologies i>clicker Qwizdom InterWrite PRS eInstruction
18. Next Generation Clickers Cell Phones as ClickersExample – Poll Everywhere(www.polleverywhere.com)
19. Next Generation Clickers Smart Phones as Clickers Example – ACU’s iPhone Initiative (www.acu.edu/connected)
20. Factual Recall Question Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Romanticism? Attention to “the natural” Valued “folk” literature, such as fairy tales Had a strong geographical center in Düsseldorf Referred to “the blue flower” as a central symbol for longing Valued medieval literature and art „Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer“ Caspar David Friedrich Source: Briggs & Keyek-Franssen (2010)
21. Conceptual Questions Imagine holding two identical bricks under water. Brick A is just beneath the surface of the water, while Brick B is at a greater depth. The force needed to hold Brick B in place is… Larger than The same as Smaller than the force required to hold Brick A in place. Eric Mazur, Physics, Harvard University
23. Critical Thinking Questions Hamlet’s lines following the death of Ophelia suggest that: Hamlet really loved Ophelia, and is so distraught to learn of her death that he proposes to eat a crocodile. Hamlet thinks that Laertes’s grief is mere posturing, and mocks it by exaggeration. Hamlet cares little for Ophelia, but is eager to enter into a rhetorical chest-thumping competition with her brother. Elizabeth Cullingford, English, University of Texas-Austin
24. Student Perspective Questions Which of the following statements most closely matches what you think? Humans evolved from other life forms with divine assistance. Humans evolved from other life forms without divine assistance. Humans were created directly by a divine being within the past 10,000 years. Philippa Levine, History, University of Southern California
25. Confidence Levels Is it possible for the standard matrix of a linear transformation not to have an eigenvalue? Yes – High Confidence Yes – Low Confidence No – Low Confidence No – High Confidence
26. Confidence Levels Is it possible for the standard matrix of a linear transformation not to have an eigenvalue? Yes – High Confidence Yes – Low Confidence No – Low Confidence No – High Confidence
27. Which of these question types would be most useful in your teaching? Factual Recall Questions Conceptual Questions Application Questions Critical Thinking Questions Student Perspective Questions Confidence-Level Questions
Now’s a good time to talk about distribution options. At some schools, students purchase clickers at the bookstore like textbooks and use them for multiple courses. In these cases, students typically register their clicker through a course management system like Blackboard or WebCT. Instructors can then download that registration info so they can link clicker responses with students for grading purposes.At other schools, departments or schools purchase sets of clickers that instructors borrow on a per-class or per-semester basis. Students pick up clickers on the way into class and return them at the end of class. In these cases, students can be instructed to pick up the same clicker each time, allowing instructors to link clicker responses with students for grading purposes.
For example, Philippa Levine uses opinion questions to learn about the students in her course, “The Evolution Debates,” at the University of Southern California. Given the topic of the course, she sometimes finds it surprisingly easy to say something that seems harmless to her but off-putting to some of her students. By knowing where her students stand on sensitive topics, she is better able to avoid this. The question in Example 4.14, for instance, provides her with insight into her students’ religious beliefs. She finds that her students think it important that an instructor respect the beliefs of students. By asking questions such as this, she is demonstrating that respect, and her students respond positively. The ability to answer anonymously is an important ingredient here.