Last month Astronomy Professor Steve Schneider presented on his experience with using the Personal Response System with a particular focus on his strategies for writing good PRS questions. Professor Schenider says he’s been using PRS systems in various incarnations for 10 years, primarily with his large lecture course Astronomy 101. Here are some lessons he shared with the group on how he uses PRS:
Last week All Things Considered discussed Personal Response Systems (aka clickers). This short piece touches on the pedagogical potentials, of PRS, and, like with any other tool, emphasizes the importance of investing appropriate time to integrate PRS into the curriculum as a condition of its success.
Check out the 8 minute podcast available in audio and article form.
For those of you who are curious about or considering using PRS in your classes, the Center for Teaching, OIT Academic Computing, and the Provost’s Office are co-hosting an event on November 25 for instructors who want to learn more. Details below.
PRS, or Personal Response System, is a tool that many professors at UMass use to improve the quality of instruction and student interaction in their classes, especially in large lectures. You ask the questions and PRS handles the data collection and presentation of the results. Such nearly instant feedback is useful for student learning and to stimulate discussion.
If you’re interested in using PRS in your class, it may be worth your time to learn more about the system, what to expect, as well as some guidelines for getting started before you commit to this tool (once all your students have bought clickers it’s not really fair to change your mind). The Center for Teaching, OIT Academic Computing, and the Provost’s Office invite you to join us for this PRS seminar for instructors who are considering using PRS for the first time. To sign up, please email: cfteach@acad.umass.edu or call 545-1225 by *Nov. 21*.
Date: Tuesday, November 25
Time: 12:30 ~ 2:00 pm
Location: Campus Center #101
Presenter: Robin Green (eInstruction), Zane Barlow (Biology)
Our friends at the Center for Teaching are organizing an event entitled: Teaching with Clickers: Using the Personal Response Systems (clickers) and PRS Software, on Tuesday November 13th. The Personal Response System (PRS) is a tool that is growing in popularity for instructors who teach large lecture classes. It is particularly popular because of the potential for increasing instructor-student interaction even in the largest of courses. If you would like to find out more about this tool and would like to see how it works, this event may be for you.
For more information about this event and registration information please visit the Center for Teaching website at:
http://www.umass.edu/cft/events.htm
For more information about the Personal Response System (PRS) at UMass Amherst check out:
http://www.umass.edu/prs/index.html
(excerpt from Emerging Technologies Workshop : June 2007)
These devices (like small television remotes) allow students to respond to questions posed by the instructor. The results are collected and tabulated by a computer and can be displayed immediately to the class or used for evaluation later. The PRS brand has been on the Amherst campus for a while, but recent improvements to the “clicker” technology have made it much easier to use for both faculty and students.
UMass Amherst PRS Support
http://www.umass.edu/prs/
Remote devices (typically using Bluetooth ) allow instructors step away for the laptop on the podium and control the computer from anywhere in the room. These range from inexpensive “presenter” devices that control PowerPoint, to the full-featured Schoolpad tablet that comes with its own software for marking up documents on the screen.
Schoolpad
http://www.gtcocalcomp.com/interwriteschoolpad.htm
Tech-savvy students are already bringing phones, laptops and PDAs into the classroom. Many instructors and teaching technology groups are looking at ways to co-opt these devices and use them in productive ways.
ELI Seven Things: Google Jockeying
http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=ELI7014
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