Clickers

jmgrn65, RN · Jan 17, 2008

I was thinking, what are students dogs. The only clicker I could think of is the one that is used for training animals it makes a clicking sound. :lol2:

But after reading the article it seems like a good idea. The shy people are then able to give feedback without feeling bad if they are wrong.

Jolie, BSN · Jan 17, 2008

My daughter's grade school has just purchased a clicker system. I don't think she has used it in her class yet, though. It sounds like a neat tool.

krenee · Jan 17, 2008

Funny this subject came up, because I had never heard of such a thing, and suddenly we are required to buy them. There are a couple of problems with this IMO. The first is that the instructors want to use these to see how much we are learning during the lectures, BUT I am not someone who hears something once and remembers it. The lectures are fine, but I learn with repetion, so I read it in the book, hear it in the lectures, re-listen to the lectures usually 1-2 times, make flash cards, and by that time I've learned it. I may well get something wrong having to answer a question during the lecture itself since I haven't had the time I need to learn it.

The other problem is that the dang things are $60! So not happy about that.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, but we haven't used them yet, so I'll let y'all know if I decide later that they're great.

Kelly

Jolie, BSN · Jan 17, 2008

krenee,

Would your professors be using the clickers to conduct a graded quiz? I hope not. I thought they would just be used to guage the effectiveness of the lecture and allow the prof to provide more information if the class doesn't seem to be "getting" the concept at the time.

jbee · Jan 17, 2008

We were required to use them in a class a couple of years ago. I wasn't a fan of them, as I'm not a verbal learner. In order for me to grasp a concept or idea I have to read read read. I found that I was beginning to get stressed out about getting question wrong- I was reading too much into it and was beginning to think that I knew absolutely nothing and that I wasn't understanding the material. The prof had the clickers "numbered" so that she knew who answered what, and I worried that she would know that I was getting 90% of the questions wrong.

I also didn't like these because our prof used them in order to take attendance. However, sometimes the clickers wouldn't register, so it wouldn't always be known that you were present. This caused me a lot of stress because you lost points if you were absent.

I do, however, think that these clickers can be helpful. I'm sure that if points weren't allotted to clicker questions I would have been a lot less stressed out.

allthingsbright · Jan 17, 2008

No, I didnt like them-they were a waste of time and money. Part of the problem was the faculty's lack of knowledge--they had a hard time implementing them in the classroom. 52 bucks down the drain.

Little_Babycatcher · Jan 17, 2008

My school has used them for as long as I've gone there, and the School of Nursing has indeed made them mandatory. I personally like them and haven't had any problems. It's a good way for teachers to quiz the class to see how everyone's understanding level is.

krenee · Jan 17, 2008

krenee,
Would your professors be using the clickers to conduct a graded quiz? I hope not. I thought they would just be used to guage the effectiveness of the lecture and allow the prof to provide more information if the class doesn't seem to be "getting" the concept at the time.

Oh, no. You're correct, they're just to be used during the lecture and, I think, more as a tools for the instructors to know whether their teaching is effective.

Kelly

WDWpixieRN, RN · Jan 18, 2008

Hadn't heard of them. We had instructors that played "games" in class last semester. I take awhile for things to sink in, as apparently did a number of the rest of the class.

However, there is one guy who LOVES to let us all know how superior in intelligence he is to the rest of us regularly. This was his chance to SHINE. The rest of us just gave up and tuned out, lol.

I think any kind of review is positive, so long as it's not done in a timed manner that gives off the appearance of a competition.

madascanbeRNtobe · Jan 18, 2008

$52 and $60 for a clicker. Your school's bookstore is ripping you off.

I got mine for $35, and then got a $20 rebate. when i sent in reciepts for both clicker and required textbook for the class.

For us, the questions asked via clicker were not worth any grades. Sometimes the teacher would ask basic questions at the beginning of the class to see how much we had obtained from pre-class readings.

And sometimes during class, but they were all to test whether we were getting the basics down.

As another poster said, some do need to read read read several times to grasp things, but i think most would grasp basics by 1 reading, listening to the proff, and overhead notes to look at (for visual learners).

Our clickers were not connected to our name, so no attendance was taken. Mine always registered though.

Like anything, clickers can be used productively, and not productively.

I personally loved them, and wish more of my classes used them.

APBT mom, LPN, RN · Jan 18, 2008

I thought that it was about dog training too. lol.

I think it would be a good idea if it was implemented as more of a review at the end of the lecture/section. I think if the quesitons were in with the lecture it would get kind of annoying to stop and answer the questions. I would also be concerned if they were using it for some type of points added to your grade because you wouldn't be able to tell if your clicker was syncing properly.