R. J. Dufresne, W. J. Gerace, W. J. Leonard, Jose P. Mestre, L. Wenk
Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 7, 3-47, (1996)
Abstract
Traditional methods for teaching science courses at the post-secondary level employ a lecture
format of instruction in which the majority of students are passively listening to the instructor and
jotting down notes. Current views of learning and instruction challenge the wisdom of this
traditional pedagogic practice by stressing the need for the learner to play an active role in
constructing knowledge. The emerging technology of classroom communication systems offers
a promising tool for helping instructors create a more interactive, student-centered classroom,
especially when teaching large courses. In this paper we describe our experiences teaching
physics with a classroom communication system called Classtalk. Classtalk facilitated the
presentation of questions for small group work, as well as the collection of student answers and
the display of histograms showing how the class answered, all of which fed into a class-wide
discussion of studentsŐ reasoning. We found Classtalk to be a useful tool not only for engaging
students in active learning during the lecture hour, but also for enhancing the overall
communication within the classroom. Equally important, students were very positive about
Classtalk-facilitated instruction and believed that they learned more during class than they would
have during a traditional lecture.