Using Personal Response Systems at Stanford
PRS
in the Classroom
There are many ways to expand your teaching repertoire with a PRS. Here we briefly describe some pedagogical uses and provide additional resources on how to implement these teaching strategies into your course.
You can use a PRS to present questions to your students as either a formal or informal assessment:
- Give a quiz at the beginning of class to determine their understanding of the previous lecture or of an assigned reading.
- Give questions during lecture, especially after explaining an important concept, to find out if they are on track.
York University has excellent information on writing the proper questions to achieve your aims. Ian Beatty's article also contains valuable advice on implementing these questions effectively.
You can also use a PRS to facilitate discussions through Peer Instruction. Students do the following:
- Answer a question individually
- Pair up and try to convince one another of their answers (convince your neighbor technique). This is particularly effective when one student has a better understanding of the concept and can explain it to the other, more unsure student.
- Answer the
same question again individually.
This method was pioneered by Eric Mazur, and he has written a very useful starter guide entitled Peer instruction: A user's manual.
Below are research articles on Peer Instruction with and without using a PRS:
Ghosh & Renna (2006) - Technology in
support of good pedagogy: Electronic response systems and peer
instruction in an economics classroom
- Describes
experiences with Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of
Macroeconomics courses at the University of Akron.
Rosenberg, Lorenzo, & Mazur (2006) -
Peer instruction: Making science engaging
- Reviews the
method and its impact on student learning in Introductory Physics.
Fagen, Crouch, & Mazur (2002) - Peer
instruction: Results from a range of classrooms
- Presents
survey data from instructors at various institutions, including high
schools and community colleges, and their experiences.
Crouch & Mazur (2001) - Peer
instruction: Ten years of experience and results
- Discusses
experiences with two Introductory Physics courses at Harvard.
Mazur (1997) - Peer instruction: Getting
students to think in class
- Illustrates
the method in Introductory Physics; includes sample questions. A good
primer on the subject.
Other ways to enhance your course with a PRS can be found here:
- Columbia University (Tips on effective PRS use in lectures)
- Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (Faculty insights and experiences)
- University of Glasgow (Pedagogical reasons for using PRS)
If you have additional resources to contribute, please contact us!