A CLSE Team, led by Amy Kulesza, presented a poster at the Innovate 2012, a conference hosted by Ohio State University to feature  “the best uses of technology in teaching and learning at Universities and Colleges across the Midwest”( http://blog.it.ohio-state.edu/innovate/ ). The poster describes an investigation of the use of Turning Technologies clickers in an Honors Introductory Biology class.  Clicker quizzes were administered at the beginning of each lecture period to get feedback about student understanding of assigned readings. In this study, Kulesza’s  team conducted multiple analyses to uncover if student performance on exams is improved after they have practice answering related clicker questions in class. In addition, the team examined student perceptions regarding the usefulness of the clickers. After comparing aggregated test scores between sections that did and did not use clicker and student achievement on exam questions that did and did not have supporting clicker questions, it appears that clickers are associated with improved student achievement on exams.  Students perceive the use of clickers to be useful in helping them prepare for class. Kulesza plans additional analyses to determine if student performance on individual exam questions was significantly better when they first answered related clicker questions in class. The results have caused the instructional team to consider adjusting their use of clickers to include more discussion.

In addition, Judy Ridgway was a part of a panel discussing the opportunities and obstacles related to videoconferencing in education.

Kulesza A, DeanD, Clawson M, Ridgway J.  2012. Investigating the impact of Turning Technologies clickers on student learning gains in an introductory honors biology course. Innovate, April 12, 2012. Columbus Ohio.

Manandhar, S, Horowitz, A, Ridgway, J. 2012. Effective strategies for videoconferencing. Innovate, April 12, 2012. Columbus Ohio.