I have used the online testing system to achieve the same thing. In this
case students brought their laptops to class, logged into the Moodle LMS
and completed their iRAT online. This produced the same ability as with
clickers or polleverywhere in that instructors can immediately see which
questions are tripping up students. However, as Josie pointed out with the
TurningPoint software, students are unable to indicate their confidence in
their answers as can be done with a paper test. I have requested this
feature from the IT group that develops the modules for our Moodle LMS.
They tell me it is possible to program, but of course takes time and my
request is not a high priority.

Does anyone know if the BlackBoard LMS has the ability for students to
indicate their answer confidence?

The problem I encountered with using Moodle to deliver the iRATs is that we
ran into the limitations of our wireless routers - it was only capable of
handling 40 simultaneous users. I thought I was ok because I had ~38
students in the class - but I forgot to account for the WiFi users out in
the foyer. As a result I often had students being kicked off the internet
in the middle of their iRAT. Not going to go that way again until our
wireless access is more robust.

I suspect that could be a potential problem for any class that uses a
system that relies on WiFi (e.g. PollEverywhere) and is the advantage of
iClickers that instead rely on a dedicated radio antennae attached to the
classroom computer.

Cheers

Neil

*Neil Haave, PhD* | Associate Professor | Dept of Science, Augustana
Faculty, University of Alberta | 4901 - 46 Avenue, Camrose, AB, CANADA
T4V 2R3 | 780-679-1506 | [log in to unmask] |
http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/profs/nhaave/


On Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 10:11 AM, Dr Josie A Fraser <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Kristina,
>
> We use clickers for iRATs, with TurningPoint software. The software makes
> it easy to create multiple versions of the iRAT, so that in each team, the
> individuals have 6 different question papers (same questions, but in a
> different order, and the answers to each stem are also in a random order).
> This discourages cheating, which is a temptation when the teams are sat
> together and in a large overall group (we usually do our RATs with the
> whole year group of approx. 200 students).
>
> Last year we had the clickers set so that students used their student ID
> number when they started the test. This created a few problems in that
> sometimes students would mis-enter their number and then we couldn’t
> identify who had submitted the set of answers to allocate the iRAT marks
> appropriately.
>
> This year we decided to go for giving our year 1 & 2 students their own
> clicker. If they forget it they score 0 for the iRAT, but can still spend
> the time looking at the questions, so they can help their team and
> participate fully in the tRAT (for which they do get the score). We use the
> IF_AT cards for tRATs, so that is not a problem.
>
> Advantages:
> We like being able to see the iRAT scores coming in as the students take
> the test - and they can’t see the answers with this system. So after the
> iRAT is finished and they’re doing the tRAT, staff can see the questions
> that were correct for, say, 60% of the students, vs the questions where 50%
> of the students got it wrong. This means during the tRAT, as well as
> roaming the room listening to students discussing the best answer, staff
> can spend some thinking time prioritising the questions where students
> mostly struggled for the corrective instruction at the end.
> Students like the fact that their iRAT scores appear on our VLE
> (blackboard) pretty quickly after each TBL RAP session, so they know where
> they are in our entirely TBL course.
>
> Disadvantages:
> We can’t use some of the subtle scoring (such as Larry’s system where
> students ‘prioritise’ their answers based on how confident they are on
> their answer). TurningPoint, as far as I’m aware, isn’t able to do the
> scoring such that students can say “It’s A, I’m 100% confident” vs “I’m
> pretty sure it’s A, but B sounds plausible, I think I’ll go 75% for A and
> 25% for B”. Our students just have to pick one answer.
>
> I’d have to say some colleagues have found the TurningPoint software a bit
> ‘buggy’ this year, but the ability to make multiple versions of the test,
> and to have difficulty/discrimination index marks for every RAP question
> etc., is very very useful.
>
> Good luck with it!
>
> Josie
>
> Dr Josie A Fraser
> Programme Leader for Pharmacy
> Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology
> Acting Head of Pharmacology
>
> University of Bradford School of Pharmacy
> Richmond Road
> Bradford
> West Yorkshire
> BD7 1DP
>
> T: (+44) (0)1274 234663
> E: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
> On 14 Jan 2014, at 14:20, Spaulding, Kristina N <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>  Hello all,
>
>
> I'm wondering if anyone has used clickers in TBL classes and what creative
> ways you've used them.  I used to use clickers and loved them (as did my
> students), but when I started TBL it was too much for me to juggle at once.
>  Now that I'm more comfortable with TBL, I'm bringing clickers back.
>  During each lecture, I put up sample test question at the beginning of the
> lecture and again at the end (same questions).  I try to write them so most
> students can't answer them at the beginning, but can at the end.  This will
> be the first year I'm doing this using clickers, and it will give me a good
> idea of where the students are at before and after each lecture.  I also
> plan on using them to take anonymous polls now and then.  However, this
> isn't really TBL specific.  I'm hesitant to use them as a reporting method
> because then teams can see answers, but now which team is giving which
> answer.  Any other ideas?  Have people had success using them as part of
> the RATs?
>
>
>      _________________________________________
>
> Kristina N. Spaulding
>
> Doctoral candidate
>
> Gallup lab
>
> Department of Psychology
>
> University at Albany
>
> HU B68-E
>
> 442-4786
>
> OH: Tue 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
>
> Fri 1:00 - 2:30
>
>
>
>
>