Thanks, Jim. The purpose of this overhaul is to eventually diffuse TBL into all the sections of this course (thereby effecting possibly thousands of history students per year.) It is an extremely exciting project, but we need to keep in mind that we'll eventually need to be able to hand it off to additional teachers beyond the one who is developing/piloting it with me. So we gotta keep it streamlined and simple in terms of "accessories."
Our one-group-question-at-a-time-with-immediate-feedback is the best we can do simulate the fun of the IF-AT. You're right, we certainly lose something, but it's the best we can think of right now.
Word on the street is that iClicker is developing functionality whereby students/groups can be working on different questions at the same time, but without a definite delivery date.
I hope to present a poster on this at the conference in March--at which time we'll be halfway through the first semester--so, stay tuned!
(Or, for those of who remember: "Don't touch that dial!")
-M
-----Original Message-----
From: Sibley, Jim [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 1:34 PM
To: Sweet, Michael S; [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: i-Clicker strategy for very large TBL class: Your feedback?
my two cents
1) your comments about stability issues with CPS have merit.....we switched to iClicker 2 years ago.....and are extremely happy with the system
2) I haven't figured out a good way to use clickers in our TBL courses.....always feel that we lose something when we try
we have stuck to paper IRAT with apperson scanners and IF-ATs.....granted our biggest implementation has only been 32 teams (200 students)
in the big classes we don't try to scan all the IRATs just a significant pile before running the tally reports to inform the mini-lecture....we re-scan later to generate the excel results
I can see the desire to use clickers....but losing the IF-AT for me would be losing one of the most fun parts of TBL
Jim Sibley
Director
Centre for Instructional Support
Faculty of Applied Science
University of British Columbia
604-822-9241
-----Original Message-----
From: Team-Based Learning on behalf of Sweet, Michael S
Sent: Fri 10/16/2009 10:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: i-Clicker strategy for very large TBL class: Your feedback?
Friends,
I am working with someone in history to overhaul a 80-300 student class into full-on TBL.
Due to the volume of paperwork that so many students would generate, we are planning to use clickers for RATs and Application activities.
Our two choices are CPS and i-Clicker. CPS allows students/groups to be working on different questions at the same time, while i-Clicker does not. However, we have had many, Many, MANY stability/reliability problems with CPS, so we're going with i-Clicker.
Here's my plan:
(1) In addition to each student having a clicker, each team will have one additional clicker that the teacher brings to and takes from class, distributed and collected on RAT days.
(2) Students will be given the quiz form on paper, upon which they circle their individual answers. The quiz will consist of 10 knowledge-level questions and 5 conceptual/analytical/application questions.
(3) At the given time, the teacher will activate the i-Clicker receiver and the whole class will march through the quiz, keying in their individual answers one-at-a-time using their individual clickers.
(4) Once that is complete, then the teams will convene and march through ONLY the five higher-level questions, using their team clicker. They will have, say, five minutes to talk about question number 11, after which the teacher opens up the response system and they key in their answers to get immediate feedback. Then they have five minutes to talk about question number 12, after which they teacher opens up the response system and they key in their answers to get immediate feedback. Then question 13, and so on.
Obviously, this is not ideal, as it makes the team discussions a little herky-jerky. But that is an inconvenience/awkwardness that will be predictable and shared by everyone, as opposed to the different handful of random folks every time who's clicker will not register, does not work, etc.. In a large, lower-division, REQUIRED class, we are going to have plenty on our plates to get students on board with TBL ("Navigating the bumpy road" and so on), and I am loathe to introduced the extra anxiety and frustration of a flaky clicker system into it.
Your thoughts?
-M
Michael Sweet, Ph.D.
Faculty Development Specialist
Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment (DIIA)
University of Texas Austin
MAI 2206 * (512) 232-1775
"Teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible." - Todd Witaker
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