- Unit: ES10009 Research and Computing Skills
- Department: Economics
- Level: Undergraduate
- Tutor: Rania Naguib
- Session Type: 2 hour lecture
- Group Size: 27 students
Background
Aims and Objectives of the Lecture
The session was designed specifically for revision. The unit aims at developing the students’ skills in the use of Microsoft Excel in conducting economic research and models. Examples of topics covered are data description, data analysis, graphs, correlation and regression analysis. The aim was to test the students’ understanding of the main statistical and econometric concepts covered during the term and to prepare them for the end-of-term exam. The questions were designed as True or False and as MCQs and they were designed using the TurningPoint 2008 software. Given that the lectures take place in a computer room, it was a good opportunity to try using ResponseWare instead of the traditional clickers.
How was the lecture planned?
The PowerPoint slides were designed where the students were should a question followed by options (i.e. True or False, or Multiple Choice). As soon as all students submit their answers, I closed the poll, and then a column chart of the percentage of different answers appeared to the students and a correct answer indicator appeared next to the correct answer. Each student could then check whether s/he had answered correctly or not. If I noticed that the majority of the answers were wrong, I briefly went through the concept of the underlying topic and drew their attention to the lecture/ topic that this question is related to so that they go back and revise it well. The questions covered the whole syllabus in no particular order (i.e. you could not say that Q1 -4 was on topic 1, while Q 5-8 are on topic 2). The reason is that I intentionally would have a question that tests the same concept but phrased differently and comes few questions later than the first question. My aim was to test whether the students have really understood the concept that they can answer the question if the relationship questioned is reversed or set in a more indirect sequence.
Outcomes
Were the objectives met?
I believe that running this session helped in testing the students understanding of the topics covered. Moreover, because the questions were designed to focus more on the relevant parts that the exam will be covering (although this was not known to the students prior to the session and the exam questions are not set in the form of MCQs), it helped in drawing their attention to the specific parts they will really need to revise and understand to pass the exam.
The repetition of some questions in different format and to test a reversed relationship was really useful. For example I had about 5 questions to test their understanding of the skewness of data that were scattered through the revision session. When they answered the first question wrong, I explained to them why it is wrong, briefly explained the concept of skewness, and gave an example on positive skewness. When a question on the same topic was repeated but asking about the properties of a negative skewness, some got it write, while others still got it wrong. I re-iterated the concept. By the time, we reached to the fifth question, 100% chose the right answer. So, it was a useful illustration to the students (and an evidence to me) of their learning curve.
How did the students find it?
The students really enjoyed the experience using this technology. Some were actually cheering when they find that they get the right answer (I could feel that their confidence was increasing as we go on!). I had advised them at the beginning of the session to have a piece of paper ready to note which questions they got wrong and which in turn would give an indication as to which topics they would need to revisit when they got an answer wrong. A number of the students took notes during the session and some of them would ask more questions for clarification.
At the end of the session, I asked them about their opinion on the session, they all said that they enjoyed it and that it was very useful for them and the technology was very easy, apart from very few glitches (mentioned below). However, they did not think that these glitches would deter them from using this technology again. Some students even expressed that they wish there would be a report on how each student did or scored per topic covered so that they can have a quantitative measure on how they have performed.
Were there any unexpected outcomes?
Although overall the outcome of the session was positive, there were some few observations and glitches that I was not aware of prior to the session:
- Apparently the default definition for participants is set as “Auto” rather than “Anonymous”. So, after the students entered the Session ID on the ResponseWare website, they were asked for their first and last name and user data. It seemed that the students did not mind that because they just entered their names and asked me what a “user data” means, so I told them to just enter their BUCS username in that field. In the class, this does not affect anonymity because there are no names displayed on their monitors or on the projector next to their answers. The only difference is that when the lecturer runs the reports later on, he can produce a report with the answers and score for each student. In that case, I believe, a request for scores or performance which was proposed by one of the students as mentioned earlier can be met.
- On the web interface, the correct answer indicator does not appear to the students after the poll is closed. They have a bar chart showing the percentages of answers for each just as it shows on the projector (although with slight difference in layout), but if they need to know what the correct answer is, they will need to look at the displayed slide on the projector.
- For slides that included images (e.g. tables or figures that were copied from Excel or Word) or text box, these images do not appear on the web interface. The students only saw the first part of the question which is in text, but not the tables.
- Some formatting does not project correctly on the web interface. For example, I had some questions which included mathematical expressions that are raised to powers. On the PowerPoint slide and on the projector the power appeared as superscript as usual. However, to the students on the web, the power appeared as multiplied by the mathematical expression rather than being superscripted. That caused a little bit of the confusion to the students. I then draw their attention to the projector to explain how that item should have been displayed.
Tips for potential users
I believe that the use of ResponseWare is very easy and useful to be used for many purposes. On one hand, it saves the lecturer the trouble on ensuring that all the clickers have been collected at the end of the session. Moreover, in large groups, if you do not have enough clickers, then you can use both the clickers and ResponseWare as some students can log on and participate in the session via their laptops or even the mobile phones (if they are able to connect to the campus wide Wireless Network).
Be ready that some of the formatting may not appear correctly on the web or parts of the question (e.g. tables and figures) will not appear on the web, hence you have to make sure that the students check the projector as well as their screens.
If you want to ensure anonymity, make sure to change the setting of participants from “auto” to “Anonymous”. In that case, when the students log onto RW poll website, they will be only asked to enter the session ID and nothing else.
In terms for the students’ request for a report on their score per each topic, I think this could have been done if the questions were arranged in order per topic so that when a report is run from within the Turning Point software, some scores can be calculated. However, that depends on what you want to test or get from your session. Furthermore, if students want to know their individual scores, then you will have to run the session without anonymity, which many believe that it eradicate one of the most important advantages of the Audience Response System. If what you want is to give some sort of feedback or practice with scores for performance, then there are other software that can be used for that purpose such as eXe or via using the Moodle Quiz activity. (Further information about eXe can be found on the e-Learning Authoring Tools blog.)
With ResponseWare, lecturers can present a question during lectures and have students respond in real-time using a Wi-Fi or data connection. ResponseWare instantly transfers their selection for immediate assessment.
