I once caught a class of 72 people doing exactly this!
I stopped, counted the people in the class and found that there were four more answers than there were noses in the class.  I reacted someone sternly threatening them with academic misconduct if they continued the practice even though I had no idea who was actually doing the cheating.

But the perpetrators weren't too bright because they stopped answering for their buddies right then and there on question #11.  So, for four people, they had answers 1-11 and then nothing from 12 on.  I chuckled when I saw how easy it was to catch them.

They were called in to my office and dealt with appropriately.

Hope this helps.
Chris Ellis - Florida International University

-----Original Message-----
From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sweet, Michael S
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 12:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: More clicker responses than students in the room

. . . means someone in the room has an absent friend's clicker and is cheating for them.

Anyone run into this?  

Got any clever, low-hassle methods for identifying the culprits with classes of 100-300?

-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