The Classroom Performance System (CPS or clickers) is an easy-to-use interactive tool that helps engage students in their classes, especially those held in large lecture halls. In its simplest form, the instructor asks a question and each student responds by pushing a button, corresponding to an answer, on a device that looks much like a TV remote control. Students feel more involved in the class and faculty get immediate feedback regarding student comprehension. The CPS software logs and tallies student feedback, and the results can be instantly displayed, as detailed graphs or reports, to the entire class via the room's computer projector. Students can therefore also see how they are doing compared to their classmates.
Most large classrooms on the Boca Raton Campus now have the CPS hardware (receivers) and software installed. Instructors wishing to use clickers in classrooms that don't have the hardware installed can request a CPS starter kit which contains a portable receiver and install the software on a laptop. Students must purchase a wireless remote control response unit ("clicker") through the campus bookstore. The student then goes online to register/activate the clicker (using a unique serial number) in his or her professor's course.
What can CPS do?
Promote discussion - Utilize CPS to instantly discover and take advantage of divergence in class opinion or to reveal the existence of misconceptions
- Create flexible instruction
- CPS encourages students to be involved and allows a professor to modify a lesson on the fly.
- Involve the back row
- CPS promotes total participation in a class of any size. Find the genius in the students who refuse to speak out loud.
- Capture attention
- CPS promotes an environment of steady provocation and interactive learning. Curtail distractions by focusing all attention to the front of the room.
- Bridge the gap
- CPS modifies the classroom from the traditional image to accommodate the increasing technological and social character of education.
How are instructors using CPS?
- Construct, organize, and deliver their own interactive set of questions
- Create review materials for delivery in a competitive, fun, and fast-paced learning environment
- Take attendance in large classes
- Iinstantly receive and grade reviews or tests
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