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University of Tennessee

About ITC

Newsletter: Fall 2006

Click Here to Engage Students

by: Dr. Christina Goode

One of the latest technologies to help increase student engagement and active participation in class is the “clicker,” or personal response system. Clickers are portable, hand-held devices that allow students to send their responses to multiple choice, true / false, and quantitative questions wirelessly, via infrared or radio frequency (RF) technology, to a receiver connected to the instructor’s laptop computer. Software installed on the computer analyzes the data and displays the results graphically (bar graphs, pie charts, etc.), giving both students and faculty a quick idea of what concepts might need further review or preparation.

An extensive evaluation program conducted during Fall 2005 involved two thousand students across eight departments. As a result, eInstruction’s CPSrf clicker became the officially supported product on the Knoxville campus. Any faculty interested in using clickers should contact Kathy Herr at eInstruction (kathy.herr@einstruction.com or (888) 707-6819) to request a course site and instructor’s kit. Faculty can order course clickers when completing their UT Book and Supply Store semester textbook request forms. Students can purchase or
re-sell their used clickers through the UT Book and Supply Store.

Once you’ve obtained an eInstruction course site and received your instructor’s kit, the ITC provides faculty on-campus training and support on using clickers, question structuring, and interactive strategies. We also provide one-on-one faculty assistance as requested, and a Web site for reference, communication, and user support.

If your department would like more information on the use and benefits of departmental clicker adoption, or if you have any questions regarding individual use, training, and support, contact Dr. Christina Goode at 974-6470, cgoode@utk.edu or Dr. Michael Burke at 974-8893, mburke@utk.edu.