What is SRS?
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There are several names for Student Respnonse Systems (SRS): Audience Response System (ARS), Personal Response System, Electronic Voting System, Classroom Communication System, Classroom Response System and Clickers to name a few. SRS are handheld remote controls that allow the audience (students) to communicate information to the presenter (teacher) in the following ways:
- multiple-choice questions presented via overhead or projector
- each person submits an answer to the question using a handheld transmitter (“clicker”)
- software collects responses and organizes that information into a chart
- presentation/lecture is modified in response to audience responses
Evolution of Technology
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The SRSs used in classrooms today is derived from technology used by the United States Air Force in the 1950s. That technology was first used for military training purposes, then slowly spread into the commercial sector (polling customers on their opinions of various products) and found its way into university classrooms in the early 1960s. As technology became more advanced so did the SRS and their use in the education sector expanded from upper education to K-12 classrooms.
In today's classrooms their are two types of SRSs in use: clicker and no-clicker. The clicker type SRS requires each student to have a handheld battery powered device. Using this special device students are able to select or input their answer and this data is sent to a receiver in the classroom that collects and stores the data. The no-clicker SRS utilizes laptops/computers, smartphones and tablets instead of the traditional clicker. Using these devices students can log into their account or input a special code/ID on a specific website and then they can submit their answers from their personal device. The no-clicker system is significantly cheaper than the traditional clicker system and therefore is gaining popularity in the classroom setting. Another no-clicker option is Plickers. With Plickers each students has a printout of a unique QR code which they rotate and hold up to select an answer; the teacher uses their smart phones to scan the QR codes and the information is collected and recorded.
In today's classrooms their are two types of SRSs in use: clicker and no-clicker. The clicker type SRS requires each student to have a handheld battery powered device. Using this special device students are able to select or input their answer and this data is sent to a receiver in the classroom that collects and stores the data. The no-clicker SRS utilizes laptops/computers, smartphones and tablets instead of the traditional clicker. Using these devices students can log into their account or input a special code/ID on a specific website and then they can submit their answers from their personal device. The no-clicker system is significantly cheaper than the traditional clicker system and therefore is gaining popularity in the classroom setting. Another no-clicker option is Plickers. With Plickers each students has a printout of a unique QR code which they rotate and hold up to select an answer; the teacher uses their smart phones to scan the QR codes and the information is collected and recorded.
Classroom Environment
Most SRSs are limited to the multiple-choice questions, which are often viewed negatively because they are traditionally used to test student’s recollection of facts, rather than challenge students to utilize higher cognitive functions. However, multiple-choice clicker questions can serve many other purposes. Here are some types of questions that can be asked with SRSs:
SRS can be used in a wide variety of classroom activities. Here are some examples of how SRS can be used in the classroom.
As illustrated above there are many potential uses for SRS in the classroom, but many of these activities can be carried out without the use of SRS. So what is the benefit to using SRS?
- Recall Questions: These questions ask students to remember facts, concepts or techniques. Often used to determine if students have done an assignment or particular reading or see if they remember key pieces of information from a previous lesson. These types of questions do not require higher cognitive skills and rarely generate much discussion.
- Conceptual Questions: These questions assess student understanding of important concepts. They help teachers identify misconceptions.
- Application Questions: These questions require students to apply knowledge and understanding to various situations and contexts related to the material.
- Critical Thinking Questions: These questions require students to make evaluations, make connections or analyze relationships. These questions often promote conversation and discussion, as there may be more than one correct answer depending on your logic.
- Confidence Level Questions: These questions ask students to rate how confident they feel about their particular answer choice. This teaches students how to assess their learning which enhances metacognitive skills (learning about how you learn).
- Progress Monitoring Questions: These questions allow the instructor to track student progress towards a learning objective or completion of a specific task or project. This information can be used to inform instruction and help with pacing.
SRS can be used in a wide variety of classroom activities. Here are some examples of how SRS can be used in the classroom.
- Attendance: Having students respond to a question indirectly can be a means for taking attendance, assuming that each student present participated and selected an answer.
- Summative Assessment: SRS questions can be used for graded activities, in which students earn points for selecting correct answers.
- Formative Assessment: SRS questions can be used to evaluate student understanding and gather data immediately, which may help the teacher inform instruction.
- Discussion: When students see the distribution of the whole class, this often prompts discussion. By allowing each student to think about the question, answer it individually and then see the results of the entire class gives each student time to think, setting the stage for greater discussion participation.
- Contingent Teaching: SRS can be used to track student progress and understanding and information gathered from student responses can be used to inform instruction and adjust pacing.
- Peer Instruction: The teacher poses a question to students, students are given time to think about the question and individually select their answer. Students are then asked to pair up and discuss their answer choices and explain their rationale to see if they can come to a consensus as a team. Sometimes this discussion phase will be followed with an opportunity for students to answer the same questions again (incase their answer has changed due to discussion).
As illustrated above there are many potential uses for SRS in the classroom, but many of these activities can be carried out without the use of SRS. So what is the benefit to using SRS?
- maintain student’s attention
- promote student engagement
- promote discussion and collaboration
- encourage participation from every student
- create a safe space for students who are shy (answer anonymously)
- check for understanding
- inform instruction while teaching
- add excitement to class
Ethical Implications
There are several ethical concerns surrounding the use of SRS in the classroom, including: boredom and apathy among students, stress and cheating. If SRS is overused or used for trivial purposes students will burnout and become disengaged from the class activities. Students will lose motivation to participate in SRS if it overused and as a result the academic value of the system decreases. Moreover, SRS has the potential to put unnecessary stress on students. Students learn at varying paces but SRS does not accommodate for this. When teachers use SRS they typically teach a concept and immediately require students to answer questions on the topic just discussed. For some students this can be extremely frustrating because they have not had enough time to fully synthesize and understand the information because they need more time to review and digest the information. Teachers often try to combat this problem by explicitly stating that the questions are formative assessments that will be used to help inform instruction and will not affect student grades. When SRS is used as a formative assessment to identify student progress and level of understanding throughout a lecture, the information from SRS can be used to help establish an a comfortable pace for learning for students. Also, with SRS it is very easy for students to cheat. Students can simply look at their neighbor’s screen or watch what button their peer selects and then select that same answer without putting any thought or effort into the question being asked. If students do this it could skew the data that the teacher receives and inaccurately represent the actual level of the class’s understanding. As a result the teacher may go too slow and bore their students or go too fast leaving many students confused. However, if everyone uses SRS productively and effectively they have the power to greatly enhance the learning experience.
Resources
Buff, D. (n.d.). Center for Teaching. Retrieved July 26, 2016, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-
sub-pages/clickers/
Cain J, Robinson E. A Primer on Audience Response Systems: Current Applications and Future
Considerations. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2008;72(4):77.
Taylor, M. (2013, October 13). Beyond Clickers: Student Response Systems Evolve. Retrieved July 26,
2016, from http://web.mmlc.northwestern.edu/beyond-clickers-student-response-systems-
evolve/
sub-pages/clickers/
Cain J, Robinson E. A Primer on Audience Response Systems: Current Applications and Future
Considerations. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2008;72(4):77.
Taylor, M. (2013, October 13). Beyond Clickers: Student Response Systems Evolve. Retrieved July 26,
2016, from http://web.mmlc.northwestern.edu/beyond-clickers-student-response-systems-
evolve/