Ed Surge – Jeffrey R. Young
“Plenty of peer-reviewed research shows that classroom “clickers” improve student learning when it comes to delivering facts. But a new study found that the devices can actually work against deeper learning of big-picture concepts. The study, which appears in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal “Computers & Education,” states the surprising finding in its long title: “Clickers can promote fact retention but impede conceptual understanding: The effect of the interaction between clicker use and pedagogy on learning.” Millions of students in colleges and schools around the world take classes that require clickers, small remote controls that let students buzz in answers to multiple choice questions during class. They can make a large classroom seem something like a TV game show, and the idea is that the added interactivity will improve student retention (and keep people’s attention). They’re gadgets that once seemed novel but now feel pretty mainstream—and uncontroversial.”(more)