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Transforming Student Learning With Classroom Communication Systems

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Volume 2004, Issue 3

February 3, 2004
Transforming Student
Learning with Classroom
Communication Systems


Ian Beatty, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Scientific Reasoning Research Institute and
Physics Education Research Group (UMPERG)
4772 Walnut Street, Suite 206 Boulder, Colorado 80301-2538 www.educause.edu/ecar/
Research Bulletin
Center for Applied Research EDUCAUSE
Overview
One-on-one and in small groups, most instructors naturally ask thought-provoking
questions; foster dialogue between students; encourage them to articulate and reflect on
their thinking; continually probe their needs, confusions, progress, and background
knowledge; and adjust teaching behavior as needed. This becomes impractical in larger
classes, however, and even the most talented teachers resort to lecturing and
demonstrating, perhaps asking a few rhetorical questions or calling on the occasional
raised hand. The result is a mismatch between classroom practice and the instructional
objectives we all claim to value; information, answers, and memory become the focus of
class activity and student concern instead of conceptual understanding, process, and
reasoning.
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Classroom communication systems (CCSs) are technology productscombinations of
hardware and softwaredesigned to support communication and interactivity in classes.
Through use of these products, large lecture classes can function more like small
discussions. In an economic context where brick-and-mortar universities face increasing
competition from distance education and self-paced learning programs, they must
capitalize on the fact that they bring students and faculty together face-to-face. CCSs
can help them to do that.
Since 1993, the University of Massachusetts Physics Education Research Group
(UMPERG) has taught with CCSs, developed curriculum and pedagogic techniques for
use with them, researched CCS-based teaching, supported other CCS-adopting
instructors, and interacted with CCS developers. This research bulletin will describe the
nature and use of CCSs and will identify significant benefits they offer to higher
education as well as challenges their use presents to instructors, administrators, support
staff, and students. It will also share some advice drawn from the lessons learned
through a decade of experience.
Highlights of Classroom Communication
Systems
A classroom response system is technology that




allows an instructor to present a question or problem to the class;
allows students to enter their answers into some kind of device; and
instantly aggregates and summarizes students answers for the instructor.
2,3

A response system can conceivably be as basic as a button on every seat in the
classroom and a readout dial for the instructor showing how many buttons are
depressed. A CCS is a response system that provides additional support for specific
student-active, question-driven, discussion-centered pedagogy, such as
Instantly constructing a histogram of class-wide answers for the instructor
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Displaying the histogram to students via overhead projector
Managing rosters and student logins
Allowing an instructor to associate individual students with their answers
Providing the instructor with a map of the classroom that displays student names
and question answers by seat
Allowing or requiring students to answer in small groups
Supporting integrated creation, management, display, and archiving of questions
Permitting question types other than multiple choice
4

CCSs have the most impact in large lecture courses (50 or more students), but they can
also benefit smaller classes.
Historical Trend
Classtalk was the first popular CCS, begun in 1985 and commercially available from
1992 through 1999. It was developed by a former NASA engineer, with National Science
Foundation funding and in collaboration with educational researchers at several major
universities. Classtalk used common graphing calculators as student input devices (each
shared by up to four students), a Macintosh computer as the instructors command
console, and a proprietary hard-wired network connecting them. It had a pedagogically
sound and feature-rich design that remains the standard to which other CCS are
compared. However, it was expensive, and its network required special installation in
every classroom in which the system was to be used.
Starting in 1999, Classtalk was pushed out of the market by simpler, easier, and more
reliablethough pedagogically more limitedresponse systems like EduCue PRS and
eInstruction CPS. This generation of tools employs proprietary clickers resembling a
TV remote control to send infrared (IR) signals to receptors at the front of a classroom.
IR systems have achieved widespread penetration into university and K12 classrooms.
A third generation of CCSs has now begun to appear. These systems are built from
stock Internet hardware, software, and protocols. They use laptop and tablet PCs and
PDAs as student input devices, Ethernet and 802.11 wi-fi wireless networks for
connectivity, and Web browsers, HTTP, Java, and Microsoft .NET as a software base.
CCSs are becoming a specialized kind of in-class Web application rather than an
isolated technology. In the future, we can expect to see these systems integrate more
thoroughly with other learning management and course management software. We can
also expect to see them push the boundaries of the established response system model,
exploring new possibilities.
How a CCS Is Used
A CCS can be used to insert occasional audience questions into an otherwise traditional
lecture, to quiz students for comprehension, or to keep them awake. These uses are a
waste of the systems potential. To truly realize the benefits of a CCS, an instructor must
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rethink her entire instructional model and the role class time plays within it and make
CCS use an integral part of an organic whole. A successful approach is to expose
students to new subject material before class, perhaps through readings and Web-
based multimedia. In-class time can then be devoted to CCS-mediated activities and
discussions aimed at refining and extending students understanding of the material.
Following class, homework can solidify this understanding and develop related
procedural skills such as quantitative problem-solving.
The following question cycle is a powerful model for organizing CCS-based teaching
during in-class meetings
5,6
(see Figure 1). The instructor presents a question or problem
to the class, generally without preamble, and allows the students a few minutes to
discuss it among themselves in small groups. Typically, students within a group will state
their various opinions and intuitions, and then offer arguments for each until one student
persuades the others. Some discussion and elaboration may follow until the group is
satisfied with its answer. Students then key in their answers. The instructor views an
instant histogram showing the distribution of class answers and displays the histogram
to the class. Without revealing which answer is correct (if any), the instructor then
moderates a class-wide discussion, asking for volunteers to explain the reasoning
behind each answer. With deft management, this process can be turned into a lively
interchange of ideas and arguments between students. If the answers and subsequent
discussion reveal a need, the instructor can follow up with a brief lecture on the relevant
point.
Figure 1: The Question Cyclean Effective Model for CCS Use in Class
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5
What It Means to Higher Education
Used well, a CCS can dramatically transform the classroom environment and entire
learning dynamic for a course. It can also present challenges that many instructors and
universities are not accustomed to.
Benefits
By engaging their minds in class, CCS-based instruction makes students active
participants in the learning process.
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This engagement results in more learning than
the traditional lecture format offers and in learning of a different kind: students develop a
more solid, integrated, useful understanding of concepts and their interrelationships and
applicability. A concerted focus on understanding rather than recall, and on reasoning
rather than answers, bolsters the effect. Merely asking rhetorical questions and pausing
for students to think is insufficient; once students have committed to and externalized an
answer, even if only guessing, they are emotionally invested in the problem and pay far
more attention to subsequent discussion and resolution.
By providing frequent feedback to students about the limitations of their knowledge,
CCS-based instruction helps them take charge of their own learning, seeking out the
information and experiences they need to progress. Used consistently, it can impact
their approach to learning beyond class, helping them transform into more motivated,
empowered, aggressive learners. By making them conscious of their own background
knowledge and preconceptions, CCS-assisted instruction can help students integrate
new knowledge and overcome misconceptions.
By providing feedback to an instructor about students background knowledge and
preconceptions, CCS-based pedagogy can help the instructor design learning
experiences appropriate to students state of knowledge and explicitly confront and
resolve misconceptions. By providing frequent feedback about students ongoing
learning and confusions, it can help an instructor dynamically adjust her teaching to
students real, immediate, changing needs. In the absence of such feedback, lesson
plans tend to be ballistic: they are designed and launched, and, after the fact, the
instructor learns whether the target was hit. When first using a CCS, many instructors
are quite shocked by how incorrect their expectations are of students comprehension.
By having students communicate their knowledge and reasoning, in small groups and
through class-wide discussion, CCS-based pedagogy can help them sharpen their
vocabulary, clarify their thinking, discover gaps and contradictions in their
understanding, and identify flaws in their logic. Verbalized, externalized
misunderstandings are easier to dislodge, and analysis of incorrect reasoning makes
correct ones easier to recognize. Students communication and social skills also benefit.
Participation in small-group discussions primes students to be more attentive to and
involved in subsequent whole-class discussion. In traditional classes, students tend to
ignore questions and comments by other students and only pay attention to the
instructor; this tendency is reduced or eliminated in CCS-based instruction. Furthermore,
students are more inclined to speak up in whole-class discussion after having first
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spoken in a small-group discussion. It seems that students are more afraid of being
incoherent than of being incorrect.
By fostering an active, interactive classroom environment, CCS-based pedagogy helps
keep students interested and attentive. CCS classes are popular with students, and they
can usually articulate why. They appreciate the systems value for engaging them in the
material. They acknowledge that hearing other students reasoning helps to clarify their
own. They particularly like class-wide histograms: they like the reassurance that theyre
not alone even when theyre wrong, as well as the perception that theyre part of a
community of learners all struggling with the same ideas. They also find CCS classes
more entertaining. I have never seen a student doze off during a CCS-based class.
Challenges
New Roles for Instructors. Perhaps the largest barrier to the adoption of CCS-based
teaching is the fact that instructors must learn new skills and adjust to new roles, and
this can be intimidating and demanding. Obviously, an instructor must master the
technical skills required by the particular CCS chosen: authoring, editing, and arranging
questions; controlling the system in class and interpreting the data it provides; and
troubleshooting technical glitches. More fundamentally, an instructor must learn to think
of herself as an engineer of learning experiences rather than as a dispenser of
knowledge. She must learn to plan curriculum around questions and deep
comprehension, rather than around lecture notes and content coverage. The art of
designing effective questions is deceptively nontrivial and can be time-consuming for an
instructor new to CCSs. (With experience, the process can become as efficient as
traditional lecture planning.)
An instructor must also learn the art of class managementsoliciting and moderating
discussion and directing students attention. Using information revealed through CCS
answers and discussion to model students mental state, and responding appropriately,
requires quick thinking and skills that few instructors have developed. Student-active
pedagogy also requires the instructor to assume the role of learning coach, meta-
communicating about the learning process and students approach to it.
The most daunting aspect for many instructors may be the necessity of giving up control
of the class. A lecture is predictable and controlled, with attention safely focused on the
instructor. CCS-based teaching, on the other hand, necessarily turns the classroom over
to students while they debate in small groups and while they discuss their reasoning
after the histogram display. An instructor must learn to steer the apparent chaos, rather
than rigidly controlling or squelching it. Furthermore, if an instructor is serious about
using formative assessment to respond to the students needs as they are revealed, she
must be prepared to adjust or abandon any existing lesson plan and extemporize.
The best way to help instructors adjust to their new roles is to provide mentoring and
support by CCS-experienced teachers. A little scaffolding can go a long way.
Adaptability and a willingness to improvise, experiment, and learn from apparent failures
are important attitudes to encourage. Sharing questions between instructors, or even
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providing a library or model curriculum of predesigned question sets, can make a big
difference to a new instructor trying to climb the steep CCS learning curve.
New Roles for Students. Although students generally express positive feelings about
CCS-based instruction after they have adjusted to it, some initially greet it with fear and
discomfort. This reaction is most prevalent among students accustomed to doing well:
they have mastered the game, and now the rules are being changed. Others are
resentful out of simple laziness: they are being asked to engage in thought and activity
during class which, though beneficial, is effortful and at times frustrating. Many are
uncomfortable with the idea that they will be held accountable for material not directly
addressed in lecture. Also, they must prepare beforehand so they will be ready to
participate during class.
Students often perceive CCS-delivered questions as mini-tests that they ought to be
able to answer correctly. If the questions address novel contexts, subtleties, or
ambiguities (as good questions should), they may be perceived as unfair. This is
because students are accustomed to summative assessment. They dont recognize that
they are supposed to wrestle with the questions and that true learning occurs in the
struggle and resolution.
The best way to help students adjust to their new roles is to meta-communicate about
the purpose and design of the pedagogy, enlisting students as collaborators in their own
education. Consistently directing their attention toward learning rather than evaluation
(grades), and toward reasoning rather than answers, is important.
New Roles for Administrators and Support Staff. If an institution wishes to support
the use of CCS-based pedagogy by its instructors, it must provide more pre-class and
in-class technical support than conventional lecturing requires. At some universities,
CCS support can get lost in the cracks, falling within neither the customary purview of
traditional classroom technology support (handled by an audio-visual department) nor
traditional computer and network support (handled by central IT). High-level policy
directives may be required.
Technical support is not sufficient, however. Instructors, especially those just starting out
with a CCS, need instructional support and mentoring as recommended above. If an
institution is committed to supporting CCS use, it should consider creating an institute,
center, program, or other formal structure with this explicit charge.
Some classrooms are physically more CCS-friendly than others. Having one or more
large projection screens at the front of the room, easily readable from all seats, is
required. A rooms seating arrangement must allow for convenient small-group
discussions. Depending on the size and acoustics of the room, mobile microphones and
a sound system may be indicated. If a laptop-based system is chosen, table space for
laptops is important, wireless or wired network access is crucial, and electrical outlets
throughout the room are valuable. Schools may wish to renovate some classrooms
specifically to support CCS use.
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Incompatibility with Old Metrics. Changing one component of a tightly coupled system
is generally unsuccessful. CCS-based pedagogy stresses rich conceptual
understanding, reasoning, and knowledge transfer, and it will fail if students are
assessed by traditional metrics focusing on content recall and answers. Appropriate
assessment is possible even via multiple-choice, machine-graded tests, but exam
questions must be constructed with the same thoughtfulness as CCS questions.
In addition, instructors using a CCS will encounter conflict with existing notions of how
much subject material ought to be covered in a course, and at what rate. CCS-based
courses rarely cover as long a list of topics as traditional courses. This is not to say that
students are learning less; few in a traditional lecture course grasp everything mentioned
by an instructor, and much of what they do grasp is lost shortly after the last exam is
taken. CCS-based pedagogy tends to be initially slow as students become accustomed
to the technology and the teaching model. Also, instructors and students are taking time
to build and explore a solid conceptual edifice rather than shoveling content and moving
on. The efficiency of CCS pedagogy depends on whether one is measuring what
students learn or what theyve been exposed to.
Advice
I conclude with some advice based on experiences with CCS teaching and mentoring.
Use Appropriate Pedagogy. Technology doesnt inherently improve learning; it merely
makes possible more effective pedagogy, and only when it is consonant with an
instructors educational philosophy and beliefs and reinforced by other components of
the total course. An instructor cannot and should not explicitly address in class every
topic, idea, fact, term, and procedure for which students are responsible. Instead, use
class time to build a solid understanding of core concepts, and let pre-class reading and
post-class homework provide the rest. Use exams and other performance metrics that
support, not contradict, the concept- and reasoning-centered focus of the class.
Effective CCS use requires us to design for multi-pass learning, in which an idea or
technique is developed through multiple visitations in varying contexts spread over time.
We must also appreciate, and convince our students, that confusion is an inevitable part
of learning and that no lecture or lesson plan is so perfect that students will fully
understand what is taught at first encounter.
If a CCS-using class is to be more than an endless series of quizzes, we should focus
on the reasoning behind answers and not on their correctness, and students must be
convinced that the questions are for learning and not for evaluation. How we respond
when right or wrong answers are offered is crucial. A full spectrum of answers should be
drawn out and discussed before we give any indication which (if any) is correct. Even
the notion of incorrect should be downplayed; it is more enlightening to students, and
more conducive to discussion, to say something like that would be correct if,
identifying the circumstances or assumptions under which the answer would be right.
Instead of offering the wrong answer, students often offer the right answer to the wrong
question.
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Avoid the Instructor-Centric Classroom. As teachers, we are accustomed to being
the focus of attention in our classrooms. To use a CCS effectively, we must learn to give
up control and allow learning to occur without constant micromanagement. When we
present a question, we should resist the temptation to read the question out loud or
clarify it. If it contains ambiguities, its better to allow class discussion and student
questions to bring them out; we should learn to be quiet and wait while students read,
discuss, and answer a question. During class-wide discussion, we should be tolerant of
silences while students ponder and make up their minds to speak out. It is at times
appropriate to paraphrase a students statements for the rest of the class or to help a
struggling student express an idea, but we should always confirm our accuracy with the
originator. Rather than jumping on errors or flaws in an argument, we should whenever
possible allow other students to find them, even if this appears inefficient.
Empirically, two to four questions per 50-minute class is optimal. If we cannot fill a class
with that many, it probably means we arent sufficiently cultivating discussion or posing
sufficiently divisive questions. When deciding how long to allow for small-group
discussion, sound can be a clue: the noise level in the room tends to rise as students
finish reading and assimilating the question and begin discussing it, and then drops as
they reach resolution and enter their answers. If too much more time passes, it rises
again as small talk ensues.
Use Question Wrap-Up. The transition period that wraps up class-wide discussion of
one question and either transitions to another question or ends class is an important
opportunity. We can summarize the key points or arguments students have put forth,
possibly adding additional ones that students missed. We can also make connections to
related questions and topics, pose what if alternative questions to be pondered but not
answered, or segue into the next question. Before weve revealed which answer is
right (or which answers are right), we may ask for a show of hands indicating how
many students have changed their minds as a result of the discussion. If the count is
significant, we can resend the question to see how the histogram differs.
If student answers and discussion have revealed a fundamental gap in knowledge or
understanding that discussion did not resolve, a mini-lecture on some piece of subject
matter may be appropriate. Students will learn far more from it than they would without
the preceding CCS question because the presentation is now motivated and
contextualized. Alternatively, the instructor may help students structure their knowledge
and avoid getting lost in details by communicating about how material just covered fits
into the larger picture of the subject as a whole or of learning in general.
Although this phase of the question cycle is necessarily instructor centered, take care to
keep it relatively short and directly tied to students recent and upcoming learning
activities and do not slip into extended lecturing.
Engineer Questions Deliberately. In CCS-based pedagogy, question design replaces
lecture note preparation as the focus of class planning. The criteria for an effective CCS
question are quite different from those for exam, quiz, or homework questions, and
question design should be given great care. Each instructor must discover what kinds of
questions suit his or her own subject and style; however, a few broad principles apply.
10
Every question should have a clearly identifiable pedagogic goal, not just a topic to
address. The goal indicates the action we hope to induce in students minds. Some
general types of goals include







Drawing out students background knowledge and beliefs on a topic
Making students aware of their own and others perceptions of a situation
Discovering points of confusion or misconception
Distinguishing two related concepts
Realizing parallels or connections between different ideas
Elaborating the understanding of a concept
Exploring the implications of an idea in a new or extended context
In general, avoid computational or simple factual questions or those that probe memory
rather than understanding. Comparison questions are powerful, as are predictions and
causal relationships (for example, What would happen to X if Y were increased?).
Strive for questions that get students to reason qualitatively and to draw conclusions
from a conceptual model. If the instructor can anticipate likely misunderstandings and
points of confusion, she should design questions to catch students in those and thus
draw them out for discussion and resolution.
Ambiguity is a good quality of a CCS question. It sensitizes students to the ambiguous
points implications, trains them to pay attention to subtleties in a situation, and
motivates a discussion about what aspects of a question statement are important and
how they matter. All this may not help students reach a correct answer to the question at
hand, but the answer isnt the goal: it helps students learn to reason and think
defensively and to answer future questions, especially the vague, fuzzy kind often
encountered outside the classroom.
A broadly spread histogram of student answers, indicating several popular choices, is a
signature of an effective question. It provides good material for discussion and argument
among students and is likely to result in significant learning all around. Conversely, a
histogram with a single peak at the right answer accomplishes little except to indicate
that students can answer that particular question and that it warrants no further time.
Sequences of related questions can build on each other to develop a complex idea or
set of related ideas. One tactic is to present a concept in different contexts, helping
students separate the details of application from the concepts essence. Another is to
use slight variations of the same questionperhaps different questions about the same
situationto explore the limitations of a concept or to relate different concepts. In
general, use familiar situations for new concepts to develop understanding; use new
situations for familiar concepts to check for understanding (as on an exam). This differs
from common practice. Keep in mind the issue of cognitive load: it can take significant
mental resources for students to process and interpret a new problem situation or
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description, and once students have done so, it is efficient to reuse that situation for
multiple questions.
Occasionally, including extra information in question statements or omitting necessary
information is also beneficial. It helps students learn to decide for themselves what
information they need to answer a question, a skill that is perhaps as valuable in real life
as determining the answer itself.
Finally, when building a lesson, when and how a question is presented impacts the
depth, quality, and nature of the resulting group work and student thought. Students will
naturally assume that the question is relevant to whatever has just transpired, and this
can lead to pigeonhole learning in which concepts are not structured in a broadly
useful hierarchy, but are learned chronologically and only accessible within a narrow
context. In general, if a question is posed before presentation or coverage of subject
material, students will draw on preexisting knowledge, apply intuition, and extrapolate
from prior course material. If it is presented after, they will draw on whatever was just
covered regardless of its relevance. Which is preferable depends on our pedagogic
goals for the question.
Meta-communicate. The most powerful tool for changing students attitudes about
learning and enlisting them as active collaborators in their own education is meta-
communicationhigh-level communication about the nature and purpose of the normal
communication within the course. Meta-communication can and should address the
learning objectives of the course and its components, the virtues of instructional
techniques and styles employed, and the reasons why particular assignments are given.
Experience shows that students are far more cooperative when they understand why
they are being asked to do something.
Meta-communication can also address individual learning habits and the dynamics of
small-group and whole-class discussion. By accepting the role of a learning coach and
advisor, we can help students find strategies that increase their benefit from the course
and from education in generalthat is, help them learn how to learn. This is particularly
important with students who display frustration or hostility toward CCS use and
associated pedagogy.
Key Questions to Ask



Are CCS use and its associated pedagogic perspective and methods consistent
with your institutional mission? Should you actively encourage it?
Will students encounter CCS-style pedagogy and learning expectations
consistently across courses or only in isolation?
Does your institutions larger structure of exams and course interdependencies,
with the curriculum content expectations they imply, support or conflict with the
more thorough and less topically broad nature of CCS-based instruction?
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Are instructors expected to master technical aspects of CCS use themselves,
create their own content, and refine their own pedagogy? Can institution-level
support be provided?
Will the fruits of one instructors work developing curriculum and pedagogy for a
CCS-based course be preserved if that instructor leaves the course?
Is a candidate CCS pedagogically rich and well-designed? Do its creators have
educational experience and credentials? Will it integrate well with other
educational software, now and in the future? Is it extensible?
Where to Learn More
UMass Physics Education Research Groups Assessing Student Knowledge
with Instructional Technology (ASK-IT) projects Web site provides more
information and links to relevant papers. It also maintains an extensive list of
available systems, with links to manufacturers Web sites,
<http://umperg.physics.umass.edu/projects/ASKIT>.
The Assessing to Learn (A2L) Web site (another UMPERG project) has a
database of CCS-compatible formative assessment questions designed for high
school physics instruction and some supporting material,
<http://A2L.physics.umass.edu/>.



E. Mazurs Peer Instruction: A Users Manual (Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Prentice Hall, 1997) presents a detailed account of one instructors use of CCS-
based pedagogy, with extensive question sets and other resources for physics
teachers.
D. Johnson, R. Johnson, and K. Smiths Active Learning: Cooperation in the
College Classroom (Edina, Minn.: Interaction Book Co., 1991) contains an
introduction to, background on, and resources for using cooperative learning in
college instruction.
The Active Learning Web site is a compendium of resources with a bibliography
for those interested in active learning, <http://www.active-learning-site.com/>.
Endnotes
1. C. C. Bonwell and J. A. Eison, Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom, ERIC
Clearinghouse on Higher Education, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., ASHE-ERIC
Higher Education Report No. 1, 1991.
2. R. A. Burnstein and L. M. Lederman, Comparison of Different Commercial Wireless Keypad Systems,
The Physics Teacher, Vol. 41, Issue 5, 2003, pp. 272275.
3. D. English, Audiences Talk Back: Response Systems Fill Your Meeting Media with Instant Data, AV
Video Multimedia Producer, Vol. 25, No. 12, December 2003, pp. 2224,
<http://www.avvideo.com/2003/11_nov/features/1203presentations.htm>.
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4. J. Roschelle, L. Abrahamson, and B. Penuel, CATAALYST: Research Summary, in preparation.
5. R. J. Dufresne et al., Classtalk: A Classroom Communication System for Active Learning, Journal of
Computing in Higher Education, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1996, pp. 347.
6. L. Wenk et al., Technology-Assisted Active Learning In Large Lectures, in A. P. McNeal and C.
DAvanzo, eds., Student-Active Science: Models of Innovation in College Science Teaching (Philadelphia:
Saunders College Publishing, 1997), pp. 431451.
7. E. Mazur, Peer Instruction: A Users Manual (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1997).
8. J. Roschelle, W. R. Penuel, and L. Abrahamson, The Networked Classroom, Educational Leadership, in
press.
About the Author
Ian Beatty (beatty@physics.umass.edu) is a postdoctoral research associate with the
University of Massachusetts Amherst Scientific Reasoning Research Institute and
Physics Education Research Group (UMPERG).















Copyright 2004 EDUCAUSE and Ian Beatty. All rights reserved. This ECAR research bulletin is proprietary and
intended for use only by subscribers. Reproduction, or distribution of ECAR research bulletins to those not
formally affiliated with the subscribing organization, is strictly prohibited unless prior permission is granted by
EDUCAUSE and the author.

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