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Teaching with Clickers: An opportunity for UAlbany Faculty
ITLAL and ITS are jointly sponsoring a project begun in Fall 2007 to explore the effective pedagogical use of “instant student response” systems (otherwise known as “clickers”). Clickers have been adopted by many university instructors as a way to engage students more actively in the classroom, so as to ensure their participation even in large classes (of course, the technology works well in smaller classes, also). This round of the project is designed to support up to 10 more faculty members who would like to develop instructional approaches using this technology in Summer and Fall 2008. Project participants will have the opportunity to work with colleagues to explore effective strategies and techniques for eliciting student input, assessing student learning, and managing interactions. Hands-on practice and technical support will be provided to instructors who participate.
The project includes the following features:
- Participants will attend a preliminary workshop and orientation to clickers on May 20 at 10am (for Summer or Fall adopters) or August 12 at 10am (for Fall adopters) at 10am. The purpose of this session is to provide participants with an opportunity to practice using the system while learning what it can do and how it functions. Participants will work with the i-Clicker system (http://www.iclicker.com/) currently at use at Cornell, Colorado, and Rensselaer Polytechnic. Attendance at this 2 ½ hour orientation and practice session is required for participants who want to take advantage of the services and opportunities related to this program (see following).
- ITLAL will purchase for each participant the portable I-Clicker receiver (~$200) necessary to run the system in any computerized classroom, or from the instructor’s laptop. (Students purchase their individual handsets in the bookstore)
- ITS and ITLAL will work closely with project participants to ensure a smooth implementation.
- ITLAL and ITS staff members will be available to consult with instructors both on strategies for pedagogical effectiveness of clicker use and on technical support.
- ITLAL will make available $300 in additional funding to each project participant for materials and miscellaneous needs related to revising a course for clicker use.
Participants may also be asked to contribute to future promotional efforts by ITLAL and ITS to promote effective clicker use (workshops, articles for Teaching@Albany, etc.)
If you would like to apply to participate in this pilot, please fill out the brief application form. For those who wish to participate in Summer 2008, applications will be due May 5, 2008. For those who wish to participate in Fall 2008, applications will be due August 1, 2008. Priority will be given to projects that affect large numbers of students, and that express most effectively and concretely how using this technology will improve student learning in your particular classes.