Clickers

Three common characteristics of good Clicker questions

1. The incorrect answers (distractors) are based on student common misconceptions or difficulties

There are many ways to identify mistakes students commonly make.  If you have taught the same course before, you may have developed a good instinct about where students get confused. A good starting point is to analyze quiz and exam answers from previous years and to research the literature on common difficulties in your discipline (Crouch et al., 2007). If you have never taught the course before, you can ask colleagues or administer a pre-test at the beginning of each term or unit.

A good way to make your questions reflective of the specific needs of your current students is to have them complete open-ended reading questions that are due shortly before class. You can even elicit student misunderstandings right in the middle of the lecture and make  “on the fly” changes to your questions as permitted. Finally, you can always note down any misunderstanding that emerges from class activities as material for future clicker questions.

Takeaway: Base incorrect answers on common misconceptions.

2. The level of difficulty is appropriately challenging

A correct answer rate of 35%-70% suggested by Eric Mazur (the pioneer of the Peer Instruction model) is generally considered an optimal level of difficulty for clicker questions. “If fewer than 35% of the students are initially correct, the question may be ambiguous, or too few students understand the relevant concepts to have a fruitful discussion (at least without some further guidance from the instructor). If more than 70% of the students answer the question correctly alone, there is little benefit from discussion” (Crouch et al., 2007, p10).

Takeaway: Target your questions to mid-level students

3. The questions are unambiguously worded.

There is a difference between intentional and unintended ambiguity in clicker question design. Clicker questions that test the grey area of the subject matter are beneficial to students because they force students to think in cognitively more complex ways. However, if a question is not clearly worded, it may fail to assess what it is intended to assess. Students may have chosen the wrong answer only because they misinterpreted the question.

A good way to avoid misinterpretation of clicker questions is to test them out on a smaller group of students before bringing them to class. When you ask a question in class, being on the lookout for possible misinterpretations will enable you to react faster and adjust more easily when they do happen. You can even turn it to your favour if the misinterpretation offers you an opportunity to help students explore the topic deeper or from a wider perspective as it sometimes does. Being flexible is one of the qualities required of instructors teaching with clickers. Creating good questions takes practice. If you habitually refine your questions based on student feedback as you go, you will certainly improve with time.

Takeaway: Word your questions carefully so as to avoid misunderstandings.

Most instructors would agree that creating good clicker questions is hard work. It can be difficult to come up with plausible incorrect answers and target the questions at the appropriate level. Both are important factors that influence the quality of a question. However, the most challenging and also the most critical part of creating a clicker question, according to Beatty et al. (2006) is determining what you want your students to learn and be able to do through the question or a series of questions.

If you have difficulty getting students to do their pre-class reading, you are not alone. Research suggests that only 20-30% of college students complete their reading assignments on any given day (Hobson, 2004). More shockingly, in a survey done by Derek Bruff, one student out of 56 read their textbook before coming to class. When you implement clickers in the classroom, you will find it a more compelling issue because preparatory reading is critical to the successful use of clickers. 

A reading quiz administered either before class or at the beginning of class is a common technique employed by instructors to encourage preparatory reading. While it works for some instructors, others are hesitant to adopt it for various reasons. 

The challenges of reading quiz

In the context of teaching physics, Henderson and Rosenthal (2006) discussed the challenges of creating quiz questions at the right level. Simple factual questions may reinforce the already prevalent student conception that physics is all about memorizing and plugging numbers into equations, while deep conceptual questions are not fair to students, who encounter the material for the first time. Another disadvantage of reading quiz is that it is a teacher-centered approach. Although an experienced teacher may be well aware of common student difficulties, there is always a gap between what the teacher thinks is difficult or confusing for students and the reality of student understanding. Moreover, with reading quiz, students depend on external assessment rather than the more desirable self-assessment.

Why do students not comply with course reading assignments?

Understanding the reasons behind low reading compliance is the first step to finding solutions. Hobson (2004) points out that the research literature focuses excessively on the students as the source of the non-compliance problem and, therefore, seldom looks at the other side of the “teaching and learning coin” for solutions. Based on survey results that students do not perceive course readings as necessary for course success, Hobson identified some drawbacks in course design as contributing factors such as a weak relationship between course readings and academic success; no justification in the course syllabus for reading selections; no distinction between "required" readings and readings that are "required to succeed", and a mismatch between text difficulty level and student background knowledge and reading abilities.