Clickers in Statistics Classes: Connecting Research and Practice

• Activity Number: 164
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 1, 2011 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
• Author(s): Jennifer J. Kaplan*+ and Josh J. Bernhard*+ and Patti B. Collings*+ and Ulrike Genschel*+ and Herle McGowan*+
• Companies: Michigan State University and Iowa State University and Brigham Young University and Iowa State University and North Carolina State University
• Keywords: Personal Response Systems ; Research and Pedagogy ; Classroom Technology

Abstract

This panel is composed of statistics instructors who have used clickers in instruction and statistics education researchers who have studied the effectiveness of clickers on student outcome variables through specifically designed experiments. Examples of student outcome variables are learning, engagement, and student attitudes toward statistics. While the statistics education researchers will present primarily concepts and ideas related to the quantitative nature of their studies, the statistics instructors will discuss implementation decisions made based on their experiences and/or existing "best practices" literature, resulting from observational studies and qualitative feedback from students and instructors. The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions, and the session will provide a discussion about how the research results can lead to informed pedagogical decisions made by instructors. It is the goal of the panel to provide not only clicker oriented information and assessment tools that instructors can implement, but also to serve as an example of how quantitative research in general can and should affect future pedagogical practices for researchers and instructors.