Today, the Davis and Los Angeles campuses are piloting audience response systems campuswide and instructors throughout the system continue to experiment with them on their own (publishers often give them away to encourage purchase of their textbooks). Riverside has taken the biggest plunge by installing audience response systems in all of its 66 general assignment classrooms. According to Leo Schouest, Manager of Faculty & Student Technical Support at UCR, 19 faculty are using the systems this quarter in psychology, chemistry, physics, and other disciplines. Schouest says the use of these systems is leading to dramatically increased attendance, more engaging lecture sessions, and greater class participation among all students (even the "shy" ones).

Schouest and his colleagues in the Computing and Communications department have tried to simplify the use of these systems in multiple ways so that faculty can focus on their teaching -- not on the technology. The campus has standardized on one system, the infrared H-ITT system (radio frequency is the other type of system; see a comparison ). Standardizing also saves the students money because they only have to purchase one clicker for their entire academic career. The computing department has created a companion web site to teach faculty how to use the system and to share best practices as well as to enable students to register their clickers (so that their responses during class are attributed to them).

General Information about Clicker Systems

For more tips and best practices, visit the web site for the Columbia Center for Education Research and Evaluation, which provides an overview of "clicker" technology . The Center also offers specific tips on effective educational uses of these systems. Also, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's " 7 Things You Should Know About Clickers " offers pros, cons, and general information, all in a concise format. Finally, the University of Victoria is planning a study on the academic benefits of clickers.