Clickers in a Flipped Lab; Feedback to Enhance Engagement in First year Science

Anecdotal evidence from lecturers engaged in teaching science practical’s is that there is very little student interaction with the pre-lab reading resources as posted on the VLE or in the laboratory manuals provided at the... [ view full abstract ]

Anecdotal evidence from lecturers engaged in teaching science practical’s is that there is very little student interaction with the pre-lab reading resources as posted on the VLE or in the laboratory manuals provided at the beginning of the semester. The lecturer must provide a pre-lab lecture which eats into lab time. The lecturer in this instance identified a first year biology group that agreed to take part in the study.

The aim of this research was to determine the effectiveness of using a flipped classroom approach in laboratory sessions and using clickers to conduct a short pre-lab quiz in place of the usual pre-lab lecture. This quiz tested student knowledge of the pre-lab reading material. It provided feedback to the student on their individual knowledge and the aggregate knowledge of their peers. It also provided feedback to the lecturer. It was hypothesized that students would find the feedback useful and that the flipping would result in increased engagement with the Moodle resources and improved student preparedness.

There was a high level of engagement with the course material and the students were well prepared for their lab sessions. The lecturer also found that this was a very good way to initiate discussion. Another important outcome was that students were able to answer questions in a safe environment as they answered anonymously. This enabled them to view their own answers in the context of the class as a whole and made them more confident as a result. Access to the VLE reading resources increased dramatically when compared to a corresponding cohort where the clickers were not deployed.

This research was conducted as part the multi-institutional Y1Feedback (www.y1feedback.ie) project, which was funded by the Irish National Forum for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.