• Unit: ME30219 – Aircraft Performance and Design
  • Department/School: Mechanical Engineering
  • Level: Third year Aerospace Engineering module
  • Unit Tutors: Dr M Wilson and G Cranston
  • Keywords [pedagogical]: large-group-teaching
  • Keywords [technical]: audience-response-systems, ars

Background

Aims and objectives of the lecture
This lecture was used as a revision session with an overview of the topics covered in the previous three weeks.  The aim of using the ARS was to establish how well the students understood the different topics and their applications.

What actually took place?
Students were asked a variety of questions, including simply calculations, identifying important points on graphs and some aerospace trivia.  A total of 16 questions were asked, including an ice-breaker question to ensure the students understood the technology.  The amount of time for each question varied according to question type, but students were encouraged to make an educated guess if they had not completed the calculation to prevent others becoming frustrated and disinterested.  Each question had 3 possible answers.  Where there was some discrepancy between answers, the method was explained and the correct answer discussed.

What was the role of the technology? What did the technology add?
The technology was used to engage all students anonymously.  No one student was singled out and all could participate.  It allowed instant feedback to the group from the tutor.  For such a dry subject, the ARS made the lecture more exciting and interesting for the students.

Outcomes

Were the objectives met?
The objectives were met well.  I was extremely pleased with how the technology worked and the lecture as a whole was more successful than I could have imagined.

How did the students find it?
The students appeared to enjoy the session.  They were encouraged to talk with each other and use their notes to find the answers.  There mood of the lecture was very good, and they were interested in getting the answers right.  64% of the students strongly agreed that they “found the lecture and technology used fun and useful”.  55% recommended that the technology was used more.

Were there any unexpected outcomes?
The only slight problem I had was in setting up at the start (one of the USB sticks didn’t work) but there was a second one that did.  With respect to the outcomes, I was just so surprised that the lecture went as well as it did and that the students were all more than willing to participate.  They even suggested that we use the technology in tutorial sessions.

What tips do you have for others?
I would recommend this technology to everyone.  It really is an excellent was to engage all the students in a non-threatening way.  I used ARS for an entire lecture, and would suggest that if others did this they should try and use a variety of questions, so that they are not all difficult calculations but include some pictorial questions and perhaps some more ‘fun’ ones too.

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