Clickers: Fad or Fab?
Victoria Miller
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Campus News
ULM professors have begun to lean toward the use of technology for their teaching instead of relying on the traditional chalk board and lecture routine. "Clickers" have become a popular tool for professors during our 2009 and 2010 schedules. This new technology has proven itself to be very useful for both professors and students.
"It's been proven that students do not retain information in only lecture form," said Julia Barnhill, special coordinator for academic affairs and professor at ULM. "Students need more from their professors than hours and hours of straight lecture."
According to a TRE Newsletter article titled "The Change-up in Lectures," studies show that after about 20 minutes of listening to a speaker, adults' attention span begins to wane. And after three hours of sitting in a classroom, students only retain about 25% of what they have heard during the lecture.
"Clickers provide a break from the hum drum of the lecture as well as provide useful feedback for the professor," Barnhill said. "I think its [clickers] an engaging way to promote discussion among students and peer-to-peer instruction. It has been proven that clickers aid in the retention of information."
Dr. Michael Sean Chenoweth finds the clicker helpful in his teaching.
"I think it's a useful tool," he said. "Students actually like using it. It's good for student interaction and better than note-taking the whole class. It makes the students think about what they are writing down. I'll use it to find out how much they know before I teach them (the material)."
Some professors and students at ULM are wary of using the new technology. Professors are skeptical that the clickers are "just a fad" and are not truly as useful as they have been made out to be.
Students are worried about the possibility of misplacing the clicker and having to buy a new one for 35 dollars in the campus bookstore. They have heard horror stories from clicker naysayers who experimented with the technology last semester and found it unsatisfactory.
"It's been proven that students do not retain information in only lecture form," said Julia Barnhill, special coordinator for academic affairs and professor at ULM. "Students need more from their professors than hours and hours of straight lecture."
According to a TRE Newsletter article titled "The Change-up in Lectures," studies show that after about 20 minutes of listening to a speaker, adults' attention span begins to wane. And after three hours of sitting in a classroom, students only retain about 25% of what they have heard during the lecture.
"Clickers provide a break from the hum drum of the lecture as well as provide useful feedback for the professor," Barnhill said. "I think its [clickers] an engaging way to promote discussion among students and peer-to-peer instruction. It has been proven that clickers aid in the retention of information."
Dr. Michael Sean Chenoweth finds the clicker helpful in his teaching.
"I think it's a useful tool," he said. "Students actually like using it. It's good for student interaction and better than note-taking the whole class. It makes the students think about what they are writing down. I'll use it to find out how much they know before I teach them (the material)."
Some professors and students at ULM are wary of using the new technology. Professors are skeptical that the clickers are "just a fad" and are not truly as useful as they have been made out to be.
Students are worried about the possibility of misplacing the clicker and having to buy a new one for 35 dollars in the campus bookstore. They have heard horror stories from clicker naysayers who experimented with the technology last semester and found it unsatisfactory.
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