Mixed results have been reported on the correlation between clickers and performance. This study investigates the usage of clickers in a voluntary context to answer in-class questions in a General Chemistry class. Scores on an internal chemistry placement exam were used to estimate cognitive ability, as a factor that students can no longer…

Clicker-integrated instruction is the current innovation in teaching and learning. Several studies used this technology to investigate learning processes, while others mainly used it to asses for learning, facilitation of group discussion and students' participation. All applications require creativity and analytical thinking and very much…

Many large introductory classes are taught in stadium-style classrooms, which makes group work more difficult due to the room layout and immobile seating. These classrooms may create challenges for an instructor who wants to monitor student engagement because the layouts make it difficult to interact with the students as they work. Student…

This dissertation investigates the voluntary usage of clickers to answer in class multiple-choice questions in general chemistry courses and its effect on student performance. The first study explored the demographic composition of two sequential introductory level chemistry courses over six terms. No difference in voluntary usage of the clicker…

My thesis work is focused on conceptual and epistemic learning and characterizing the environments in which this learning takes place. Earlier studies conducted by the Stowe group explored how instructional practices, instructional emphasis, and assessment emphasis relate to student outcomes in general and organic chemistry courses. Student…

Peer Instruction (PI), a student-centred teaching method, engages students during class through structured, frequent questioning, facilitated by classroom response systems. The central feature of PI is the ConcepTest, a question designed to help resolve student misconceptions around the subject content. Within our coordination chemistry PI…

Educational researchers have long advocated for the integration of computer simulations (sims) in science courses, citing the positive effects these tools have on students' science conceptual comprehension (Develaki 2017; Hannafin, West, and Shepard 2009; Lamb et al. 2011). In fact, Liao (2007) investigated the learning differences between…

This article describes how clickers (student response systems) may be used to assess and support the development of productive process skills and discourse patterns within student teams during class periods. Clicker questions may poll the class about specific features of the internal workings of teams, such as role rotation, helpful or distracting…

Classroom response systems are an important tool in many active learning pedagogies. They support real-time feedback on student learning and promote student engagement, even in large classrooms, by allowing instructors to solicit an answer to a question from all students and show the results. Existing classroom response systems are general purpose…

The 2011 passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act requires managers to teach and verify that employees have learned and are engaged in science-based food safety behaviors. Instructors using embedded assessments such as clickers can receive immediate feedback on how well learners understand what is being taught, allowing instructors to provide…

Studies on the effectiveness of clickers in undergraduate chemistry courses are mixed, and there is disagreement on how to effectively leverage clickers to improve student learning performance. To fill a gap in the research, we analyzed three different teaching strategies (two involving clickers) in a General Chemistry I course over a 13-year time…

During problem-based learning sessions, undergraduate students were tasked with answering chemistry-related questions using clicker-handset technology in which the last response made by each handset would override any previous vote. The benefits, if any, of showing cohort responses from clicker questions during versus after polling were explored.…

With only minimal changes to the course structure, classroom clickers were introduced in introductory chemistry to allow students to regularly compare their perceived abilities with their actual abilities, a measurement also known as calibration. Students used the clickers to provide knowledge judgments, an indication of their confidence in…

Clickers are often used as an active learning tool in face-to-face classes to enhance student engagement and assess student learning. In this article we share the variety of ways that we use clicker questions to promote deliberate practice in large science courses. Deliberate practice is the use of specifically structured exercises that develop…

Online student-response systems provide instructors with an easy-to-use tool to instantly evaluate student comprehension. For comprehensive content review, turning this evaluation into a competitive game where students can compete against each other was found to be helpful and enjoyable for participating students. One specific online resource,…