Advocate Online

Thriving in Academe
Tales from Real Life

Searching for Answers

When I began teaching calculus as a graduate student, I relied on the lecture mode of teaching because I was new to classroom management. As I became more comfortable in the classroom, my lectures became more interactive. I engaged in questioning and answering with my students and began including small group activities in my courses.

But when I heard a talk by Harvard University physics professor Eric Mazur about the “peer instruction” method he used in his introductory physics course that involved clickers and small groups of students discussing difficult questions, it was like a light bulb turned on. Instead of focusing his class time on the transfer of information, Mazur focuses it on the assimilation of information—a more difficult step.

The next chance I had to teach with clickers, I did so, and I used Mazur’s peer instruction technique, described in this article. I was amazed at how this approach enhanced the classroom dynamic. It kept my lectures lively and interactive. I learned what difficulties my students were having, and I could respond to those difficulties “on the fly” during class.

I still teach with clickers, but now I also help faculty from all disciplines incorporate clickers into their teaching in ways that support active learning strategies. I enjoy sharing the creative and effective ways faculty use clickers. I hope you find the ones shared in this article interesting.

—Derek Bruff
Vanderbilt University

next "Thriving" article