Dr. Derek Bruff, Assistant Director of Vanderbilt University's Center for Teaching
Author of Teaching With Classroom Response Systems.
 Classroom response systems ("clickers") can be used in a variety of ways to motivate students to engage meaningfully with course material during class. They also provide useful information on student learning - what students understand and what they do not - as well as on student perspectives and experiences that instructors can use to make more informed teaching decisions during class by practicing "agile teaching."
This session provides example clicker questions designed to meet a variety of learning objectives - conceptual understanding, application, and critical thinking, for instance - as well as student perspective questions, dispelling the myth that multiple choice questions are limited to factual recall. Ideas for activities that make the most of teaching with classroom response systems will also be explored, including strategies for using clickers to facilitate small-group and classwide discussion, create "times for telling," practice agile teaching, and enhance in-class quizzes. Furthermore, solutions to a few common challenges in teaching with clickers will be discussed, including questions of "coverage," writing questions, and student perceptions of clickers.
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Dr. Derek Bruff Bio
An assistant director at the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and senior lecturer in mathematics at Vanderbilt, Derek Bruff consults regularly with instructors in a variety of disciplines at Vanderbilt and elsewhere about educational technology and other teaching and learning topics. Bruff's research interests center on investigating effective uses of classroom response systems ("clickers"). His book on the topic, Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments, was published by Jossey-Bass in February 2009. Prior to his current position, Bruff taught in the mathematics department at Harvard University.
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