Using Personal Response Systems at Stanford
Here we'll take you through the basics of a Personal Response System (PRS).
A Personal Response System is a way to introduce interactivity into your large lecture courses. For example, you can present students with questions throughout your lecture, and students record their answers by using their own remotes. The answers are captured by a receiver placed in the classroom and also recorded by the software included with the system, which runs on your computer. Each student's remote has an associated serial number so that both you and your students can keep track of their progress.
PRS receivers can be either infrared (IR) or radio-frequency (RF). RF receivers are a more recent addition and improve upon IR technology -- they can handle hundreds of students responding at once and from long distances; students can also receive confirmation that their answers were recorded.
You can present students with their results in various formats. This data gives you real-time feedback on students' understanding and allows you to clarify their misunderstandings on-the-fly if necessary.
A number of our faculty in Physics, Chemistry, Economics, and HumBio have used a PRS in their courses, with some having years of experience. If you want to find out more about using a PRS in your field or start using one in your course, please contact us!
We also suggest reading Douglas Duncan's Clickers in the Classroom -- it's a great primer on PRS-related issues from both instructors' and students' viewpoints.