1. Implementing and Adopting Clickers in the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum Michael D. Dickey NC State University Developmental History of Innovation Teaching at NC State since 2008 Department of Chem. Biomol. Engineering Taught CHE 205 (Principles of Chemical Processing) six times Large (80-120 students per section) Gateway course to CHE curriculum Used clickers for the first time (spring 2013) To make class more engaging To enforce and encourage ‘participation’ To give students a ‘voice’ I was hesitant about costs, potential distractions Received unanimously positive feedback from the students regarding the use of clickers Survey asked students “What contributes most to your learning in the course” Number one answer was the clickers! Goals: 1.I hope to improve my effectiveness using clickers by learning from others who have more expertise. 2.Students taking this gateway course will now own their own clicker, so I would like to see my colleagues adopt this technology for the benefit of the students. How can this be encouraged? Learning Activities and Materials Created a set of clicker questions (embedded in powerpoint). Questions were inspired by existing databases (e.g. Concept Tests from University of Colorado) and many were created from scratch. Organized by chapter from the most widely used chemical engineering text book. The questions could also be used for other purposes including quizzes, homework, and tests. I would typically use the clickers at the beginning of each lecture. Display question before class starts. Favored questions relating to the last lecture. Used response as a participation grade, but did not grade the answers right or wrong. I provide an example below: Typically give 2-4 clicker questions in a 75 minute lecture Most of them would be at the beginning so it would not become a distraction. Include a ‘distractor’ question so that students might reveal misperceptions. Feedback: (mid-semester) “What features of the course are most contributing to your learning?”: Clickers (29), Lectures/notes (26), problem sets (17), activities/examples/demos (23), problem session (10), book (5) Discussion I had a wonderful first-time experience with clickers. I was concerned about the additional cost and inconvenience, but the students really liked the clickers and I found that the students were more engaged. In particular, I found it to be a great way to get the students thinking before class started, get immediate feedback, hear from all students, and connect to previous lectures. I hope to learn from others how to use clickers even more effectively. Also, I would like to hear ways to get my colleagues to also adopt the technology since many of the students own clickers (having been in my intro class). I would also like to learn more techniques for developing effective clicker questions and also techniques for using clickers beyond participation points. Execution Use clickers ever day Use the clicker responses for ‘participation’ points Improves enthusiasm for clickers Project a clicker question(s) at the beginning of class to get students engaged before class starts. The question usually relates to the material from the previous lecture and thus, helps the students reconnect with the previous material. Use clickers occasionally throughout lecture when we reach a new concept. Response verifies whether students understand the material, and if not, it provides an opportunity to clear up misconceptions. 2013 Frontiers of Engineering Education Irvine, California October 27-30 Sponsored by: The National Academy of Engineering and John McDonnell and the McDonnell Family Foundation Major Issues to Resolve The use of clickers has been met with unanimously positive feedback from students. Of course, since this past semester was my first time using the clickers, I recognize that there is plenty of room for improvement, which is one of many reasons I would like to attend FOEE. Discussion points: New tricks to utilize clickers? What to do when students get the question nearly 100% right? It seemed like a waste of time to explain the answer, but also do not want to be disrespectful. What is a good number of clicker questions for a 75 minute lecture? Good clicker resources? Counting clickers for grades? Can clickers be used for tests? How to use clickers for online learners? How to implement a ‘flipped’ classroom? Students requested to post clicker answers. Good idea? Introduction and Objectives Introduction: I was the first person to implement ‘clickers’ in my department (Chemical and Biomolecular Eng.) in 2013. I used it in CHE 205 (Mass and Energy Balances), which is a large (~90 students) introductory course for students entering our degree program. Most of the students are sophomores, although I plan to use clickers for other undergraduate courses. Objective: My goal is to learn to use clickers (and other teaching techniques suitable for large classrooms) as effectively as possible and help my colleagues in my department adopt the use of clickers in the other undergraduate courses in our curriculum. Acknowledgments Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering at NC State Lisa Bullard, Rich Felder www.technapex.com