University of Maryland

BACKGROUND

The University of Maryland, College Park is a major public research university located on a 1,250-acre campus with more than 350 buildings. The flagship of the eleven-campus University System of Maryland, the university offers degrees in 127 undergraduate majors, 112 graduate degree programs, and 73 doctoral degree programs to approximately 35,000 full time students. The university has more than 360 general purpose classrooms, approximately 150 of which are technology ready.

Dr. Spencer Benson is the Director of the university-wide Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) a unit within the Office of Undergraduate Studies. The mission of the Center for Teaching Excellence is to improve undergraduate teaching and learning by working with faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates from all of the university’s 13 colleges and schools. Dr. Benson and CTE routinely partner with other units on campus, including the Office of Information Technology (OIT). The university is a leader in learning technology development, and this particular implementation of TurningPoint demonstrates Maryland’s innovation in this area.

Chris Higgins is the Manager of Learning Technologies in the Academic Support unit of Maryland’s Office of Information Technology. The unit supports education by addressing the instructional technology needs of faculty on campus, including the learning management system and other electronic and internet-based tools. In addition, his OIT team handles exploration of new tools and resources for teaching and learning. The ultimate goal of OIT Academic Support is to improve, enhance and support the teaching and learning process.

CHALLENGE

Because of the large numbers of students at the university, an ongoing institutional committee chaired by the Dean for Undergraduate Studies was assembled to explore strategies for improving the students’ experience in large classes. Many members of the faculty, including Dr. Benson, were interested in student response systems, or “clickers.” Higgins was one of those charged with researching clickers and response technology in order to make recommendations regarding a university policy on classroom response devices. After extensive research that included faculty and administrative input, Turning Technologies was selected as the number one choice.

SOLUTION

In fall 2005, the campus launched a pilot study to assess the use of clickers in large classes. Funded by the Office of Undergraduate Studies, the Office of Information Technology, and the Center for Teaching Excellence, the project sent the message that this technology implementation was educationally focused – rather than just another IT initiative.

In Dr. Benson’s opinion, “technology in the application of teaching and learning pedagogy is one of the ways that faculty can be more efficient in terms of delivering education to students.”

The university was not new to audience response systems, however. On campus, the Physics Department was seasoned in the use of student clickers. For more than five years, faculty in Physics used a variety of systems. The department is converting to TurningPoint RF system this fall.

One of the most attractive features in the Turning Technologies’ solution is that TurningPoint is an add-on to Microsoft® PowerPoint®. TurningPoint seamlessly integrates into Microsoft Office® products, nearly eliminating the learning curve for users already knowledgeable in PowerPoint®, Excel® and Word®.

Higgins says that the hardest part of the implementation process was spreading the word and convincing classroom support staff that TurningPoint integration would not be a burden. Turning Technologies hosted an on-campus training session that alleviated fears, and the implementation was uncomplicated.

In addition, Higgins stated that Turning Technologies was extremely helpful as the hardware was installed up in the current technology classrooms. There are currently about 40-50 receivers on campus and more than 1200 ResponseCards (student clickers). Most students purchase ResponseCards in the campus bookstore. However, some departments and colleges opt to buy the keypads for distribution to specific classes on a periodic basis.

Dr. Benson believes the system meets several campus objectives that cannot readily be accomplished with other technology. First, it allows instructors to collect immediate feedback on posed questions. Formative assessment, or feedback, is a critical component in improving teaching and enhancing learning. The integration of response technology has reduced the traditional time commitment required to gather that feedback. TurningPoint can process and report that feedback quicker than any other method.

Second, Dr. Benson appreciates the ability of Turning Technologies’ student response system to increase student engagement. It provides a variety of engagement points: students connect with the course content through knowledge testing, with each other through peer-to-peer instruction, and with teachers through student-instructor engagements. Moreover, when the instructor collects and displays class opinions, students feel that their opinions matter.

Third, TurningPoint and ResponseCards facilitate a better understanding of class profiles. The system allows for the collection of everything from class years, majors, age ranges, to points of view.

But what are the students and faculty saying? A professor of cellular genetics who was a beta tester for the technology has surveyed student opinions of the response system. She found that students appreciated the use of the ResponseCards and enjoyed the more interactive classroom experience. At a recent Teaching with Technology conference, she teamed up with a chemistry professor to share the results with others and discuss their positive experiences.

CONCLUSION

Higgins belongs to a technology consortium whose members have had several conversations related to the positive outcomes resulting from integration of audience response systems, particularly Turning Technologies. He has become a passionate advocate for classroom response systems. Moreover, the university’s plan for continued integration speaks volumes.

“TurningPoint has been a great partner in improving the product and its ease of use on campus. As we look to the coming year, they will be coming back to help with a variety of upgrades, increasing our ability to use the technology even more effectively,” said Higgins.

With campus support, Higgins and his team will integrate TurningPoint systems into all of the campus’s technology classrooms for the 2006-2007 academic year. “TurningPoint offers educators a mechanism for nearly instantaneous feedback and an efficient way to collect and analyze student data for class improvement and scholarship – that’s the selling point,” Dr. Benson added.

Although it’s still early in the integration process, Dr. Benson’s expectation is that “we will soon reach a critical mass where use of this technology will take off in a very short time.”

For more information about purchasing a Turning Technologies audience response system for your campus, contact us at 866-746-3015.