Boston University School of Public Health

Overview
Support
Logistics
Software Download
Best Practices with Clickers
Tutorials on How to Use TurningPoint


Overview

A “clicker system” or classroom response system (sometimes called a "personal response system" or "audience response system") is a combination of hardware and software that facilitates teaching activities such as the following.

• A teacher poses a multiple-choice question to his or her students via a computer and LCD projector. The system we use, Turing Point, works seamlessly with PowerPoint; however, users who wish to avoid PowerPoint can simply use a Turning Point software (specifically Turning Point Anywhere) to do so.
• Each student submits his or her answer to the question using a handheld transmitter (often called a “clicker”) that beams a radio-frequency (RF) signal to a receiver attached to the USB port of the instructor’s computer.
• Software on the instructor’s computer collects the students’ answers and produces a histogram showing how many students chose each of the answer choices. A wide variety of reports based on which transmitter answered which question are also available with the system.
  
  

Support

Logistics

On the Boston University Medical Campus we use a system manufactured by Turning Point (www.turingtechnologies.com).

• Transmitters ("Clickers"): In the Medical School, students are given clickers at the Educational Media Center and hold on to them throughout the year. In SPH, faculty should request that clickers be brought to the classroom and then distribute them to students. While individual responses are not monitored in the reports the system generates unless a record is kept of who uses which transmitter, the interactive benefits of student engagement and ongoing assessment for the faculty and students is still available. SPH faculty should request clickers through the Office of Student Services. (kersmith@bu.edu)
• Receivers: With the current radio-frequency technology, receivers are as small as a flash drive and simply plug into the USB port of a computer. The Educational Media Center staff who supplied the transmitters will also connect the receiver to either the built in computer or the instructor’s laptop.
• Software: Turning Point software has been installed on the presentation computers in all the larger BUMC classrooms. The software is available for free from the links below, so instructors can install it on their office computers or laptops.

Downloading Turning Point

There are 2 versions of Turning Point: Turning Point (for use with PowerPoint) and Turning Point Anywhere. Each of these can be downloaded using the link below. Simply right click on the link and chose “Save Target”.

Turning Point download here Turning Point Anywhere download here

Best Practices with Clickers

There are many useful resources on the effective use of clickers. To start we recommend the website at Vanderbilt University. To view their clicker resource page click here .