Audience+Response+Systems

= ﻿ Audience Response Systems =



by Velinda Dorsey

Classrooms of today has made a metamorphosis from chalkboard, pen and paper test, and overheads of yesterday's classroom to innovative technology rich teaching, learning, and assessing done via computer-based or Web-based tools. One of such tools are the Audience Response Systems or clickers used to assess students' comprehension and retention levels.

Audience response systems are an interactive web-based assessments tool that permits students to answer multiple choice questions using a remote control device known as clickers (response pads) and a PowerPoint slide. Kay & Knaack (2009) notes that the questions are electronically displayed and that the results are instantly aggregated and displayed in chart form for the entire class to review. The students’ responses are captured by a receiver and with the software available, teachers can get instant feedback from their students to determine how well they understand the material presented as reported by Eastman (2007).

Audience response systems or clickers allows every student to answer without the fear of humiliation, improves attendance and attention, and increases interaction with their classmates thus increasing and keeping students engaged. The technology arouses student interest and assists students in meeting their learning. Teachers can use clickers to evaluate their students’ progress or/and assess their prior knowledge. Audience response systems can track performance over time and keeps score which can be used to motivate and manage a class. Once the feedback is presented, a teacher can alter the course of instruction using the data to drive instructions or students can work out misconceptions and difficulties through peer or classroom discussion as per Kay & Knaack (2009) which is a way of differentiating instructions within the lesson.

Eastman (2007) noted in her research that the evaluation criteria of a teaching tool includes “effectiveness of presentation of the message, usefulness for application by the user, and retention by the user” and that Interactive technology can be very useful in gaining the attention and interest of students as they will have the opportunity to share their ideas in an anonymous way and knowing that they will have to respond will cause them to pay more attention to the material presented. She suggests that seeing their responses on screen in a class increases their important and thus their involvement.

According to one website (Audience Response Systems Software, Hardware, Voting Devices: Buy) the cost of the audience response systems are varied depending on the type or brand of clickers being used. However, in any case the brand of clickers used is quite costly. For example a classroom set of 30 could cost $895.00 to $1395.00 and any price in between.

There are drawbacks connected to the audience response systems such as students could feel threaten because of the difference in the way that they are being assessed. They are accustom to be assessed using paper-base and simply have a difficult time changing to Web-based or computer-based. I have witness this reaction within my own classroom. Case in point, one of student who is a high achiever scored very low on a quiz given via the clickers. Immediately after the quiz, she asked if she could retake the quiz on paper which I then printed it out and the student scored a 95. She said that she did not like the clickers and that she would prefer to test using paper. There are still other drawbacks connected to the audience response systems that the clickers are not suitable for every type of assessments format although the audience response systems can be used for both formative and summative. However, more than often, the clickers are used for formative assessments. The clickers are subject to hardware and software malfunctions or problems. Additionally, as reported by Kay & Knaack (2009) several challenges associated with audience response systems are related to time. In fact, they continue, that there are very few classroom-ready, subject-specific collections of ARS questions available, so instructors have to develop original questions. Many find this task extremely time consuming. In addition, the time required to set up an ARS, hand out the remote controls at the beginning of the class and collect remote controls at the end of the class can be significant (Kay & Knaack, 2009).

References:

Audience Response Systems Software, Hardware, Voting Devices: Buy online. Retrieved on March 20, 2011 from

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Eastman, J. (2007). Enhancing Classroom Communication with Interactive Technology: How Faculty Can Get Started. College

Teaching Methods & Styles Journal, 3(1). Retrieved on March 17, 2011 from

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Graphics. Retrieved on March 21, 2011 from []

Kay, R. & Knaack, L. (2009). Exploring the Use of Audience Response Systems in Secondary School Science Classrooms.

Journal of Science Education and Technology.18(5), 382-392. Retrieved on March 17, 2011 from

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