Clicker Videos from Colorado

These videos were produced by the University of Colorado Science Education Initiative (CU-SEI) and the University of British Columbia Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI).

Clickers in the Science Classroom

Clickers: Students and Teachers Speak

Instructors and students describe the benefits of clicker use in class when used to actively engage the students and get them thinking about the material. (~ 4.5 min)

How to Use Clickers Effectively

Want to know more about just how to use clickers to best help your students learn? This video shares the best practices in clicker use, including tips on writing questions and getting students to talk about them, the finer points of running a class discussion about a question, and how long to allow for this process. (~ 12 min)

Anatomy of a Clicker Question

Just what is a clicker? This video will give you a brief snapshot of what a clicker question looks like in the classroom, from start to finish. (~ 3 min)

The Research: Do Clickers Help Students Learn?

Why, and how, do researchers suggest that clickers be used? In this video, Chandra Turpen shares the current research on how this tool promotes student engagement and understanding. (~ 7 min)

Explain to Your Students Why You're Using Clickers

If students don't know why you're using clickers, they may not buy into it. This video shows how we help get our students on board with this learning tool. (~ 3 min)

Upper Division Clickers in Action

What might clickers look like in a junior course? Take a look inside one of our classrooms, and hear students and instructors discuss how and why they think clickers can be useful at this level. (~ 3 min)

What Kinds of Questions Do We Ask in Upper Division?

Professor Steven Pollock walks through the questions that he asked in one day of Quantum Mechanics. He shares his strategies in choosing the questions and what he noticed about how students reacted to them. (~ 2 min)

Writing Upper Division Clicker Questions

Struggling to figure out how to write a good question at this level? This short video gives a few quick tips from physics instructors. (~ 1 min)