Pedagogical Benefit

Download Podcast:
(60 minutes, 55mb)
Richard Rogers, "Using Clickers to Engage Students and Enhance Learning: A Decade Later"
21 May, 2008 (click here for the accompanying PowerPoint deck)

There are many ways in which PRS can be used to help encourage a positive learning environment in your class.  As a tool, it must be used correctly in order to effectively engage students.  Instructors at UMass Amherst have tried a variety of techniques. Here are some ideas of how PRS can be used to enhance learning in your classroom:

  • Stimulate Discussion

  • PRS can be used to stimulate small group discussion. Students can help each other with understanding course material by discussing material with neighbors while answering the PRS questions.
  • PRS can be used to stimulate large group discussions.  After the question response time has finished, students can be called on to argue which answer they feel is correct.  Keep in mind, however, that there doesn't need to be a correct answer for any particular question! Providing a catalyst for discussion such as this works well with survey-type questions as well as technical questions which may not be straight forward for students to understand.

  • Gauge the class' knowledge of a topic

  • While instructors can ask students if they understand the topic with or without PRS, PRS ensures that every student responds to every question so that the instructor can get a fuller picture of what the class as a whole understands.
  • Asking questions also helps students gauge their own knowledge in relation to fwellow students anonymously and can help them realize what they might not understand well enough.

  • Keep students focused during long lectures.

  • It can be easy for students to "zone out" during lectures that they aren't engaged or invested in.  By forcing students to actively investigate information through PRS questions and surveys, content is grasped and understood much more effectively.

  • Improve attendance by generating another incentive for students to come to class.

  • Taking attendance is a by-product of using PRS and should not be the sole reason for its use. Students often become frustrated if they feel that PRS is only being used to take attendance in their class.

  • Ask reading/homework-related questions to “quiz” students and make sure they've done the reading.

  • Again, experienced PRS instructors have found that using PRS in this way makes it a less effective learning tool, especially as students often feel they are being “punished” for not doing their homework. However, asking questions with the intention of clearing up points of confusion on the homework, rather than punishing students for not reading, is a good way to keep students on track with their homework assignments and to help students learn the material.