Classroom response systems, or “clickers,” are instructional technologies that enable teachers to rapidly collect and analyze students’ responses to multiple-choice and free-response questions during class. I am interested in helping college and university instructors explore types of questions and activities that take advantage of these technologies to productively transform the way they use class time. To that end, I’ve listed below a number of resources relevant to teaching with classroom response systems.

  • My book, Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments (Jossey-Bass, 2009), features example clicker questions and activities from almost 50 instructors from a wide variety of disciplines and types of institutions, as well as advice for using clickers to generate class-wide and small-group discussion, to prepare students to get more out of lectures, to conduct classroom games, to administer quizzes and tests, and to generate feedback on student learning useful for instructors and students.  Chapter 1 is available as a PDF.  I’ve been interviewed about the book by Inside Higher Ed, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The National Teaching & Learning Forum.
  • My blog features news about clickers, resources for teaching with clickers, and comments on research exploring the impact of clickers on student learning and teaching practice.  The blog also serves as a place where those interested in teaching with clickers can connect with each other, so please feel free to respond to my blog posts by leaving comments on the blog.
  • I maintain a bibliography of articles on classroom response systems on the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching Web site. Most of the articles present some form of research on the effectiveness or impact of classroom response systems on student learning.
  • Also on the Center for Teaching Web site is a guide to teaching with classroom response systems. It features descriptions of useful types of clicker questions and activities, suggestions for handling a few common challenges involved in teaching with clickers, and information about technical and logistical support for teaching with clickers at Vanderbilt.
  • For another introduction to teaching with clickers, read “Clickers: A Classroom Innovation,” an article I wrote for the October 2007 issue of the National Education Association’s Advocate newsletter as part of the “Thriving in Academe” section co-sponsored by the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network.
  • I’ve facilitated two “webinars” on teaching with clickers as part of the TLT Group’s FridayLive series.  Follow the links here for archived versions that you can replay in their entirety. The first webinar, presented in November 2007, focused on useful types of questions to ask in class with clickers. The second webinar, presented in March 2008, focused on ways to use clickers to engage students in class.  I presented another webinar, “Shifts in Thinking about Clickers,” for Turning Technologies.
  • I give talks regularly about teaching with clickers.  A full list is included below.  Three of those talks were videotaped and are now available online–my talk at the University of Iowa’s Clicker User Conference in September 2009, my keynote at the Turning Technologies National User Conference in October 2009, and my half-day workshop for the University System of Georgia in February 2010.

Publications

  • Bruff, D. (2009) Teaching with classroom response systems: Creating active learning environments. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Bruff, D. (2007). Clickers: A classroom innovation. National Education Association Advocate, 25(1), 5-8.

Invited Talks

  • Bruff, D. (2010, May). Class time reconsidered: Motivating student participation and engagement. Presented at the Central Michigan University Great Lakes Conference on Teaching and Learning, Mt. Pleasant, MI.
  • Bruff, D. (2010, May). Teaching with clickers: Engaging students with classroom response systems. Presented at the Central Michigan University Great Lakes Conference on Teaching and Learning, Mt. Pleasant, MI.
  • Bruff, D. (2010, May). Classrooms reconsidered: Teaching with classroom response systems. Presented at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, TN.
  • Bruff, D. (2010, February). Classrooms reconsidered: Teaching with classroom response systems. Presented at the University System of Georgia, Athens, GA.
  • Bruff, D. (2010, January). Classrooms reconsidered: Understanding and engaging students with clickers. Presented at the Nova Southeastern University Health Professional Educational Research Symposium, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, December). Designing effective questions that engage college students. Presented at a Higher Ed Hero webinar.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, November). Using clickers in the classroom. Presented at the Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group’s Online Institute.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, October). Classrooms reconsidered: Understanding and engaging students with clickers. Presented at Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, October). Classrooms reconsidered: Understanding and engaging students with clickers. Presented at the Turning Technologies National Users Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, September). Classrooms reconsidered: Understanding and engaging students with clickers. Presented at the University of Iowa Clicker User Conference, Iowa City, IA.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, April). Using clickers in the classroom. Presented at the Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group’s Online Institute.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, April). Teaching with classroom response systems. Presented at the Turning Technologies Web conference.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, March). Classrooms reconsidered: Understanding and engaging students with clickers. Presented at the Turning Technologies User Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, February). Lessons from teaching with clickers: Using mobile devices as part of classroom response systems.  Presented the ConnectEd Summit, Abilene, TX.
  • Bruff, D. (2008, September). Teaching with clickers: Engaging students with classroom response systems.  Presented at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
  • Bruff, D. (2008, April). Teaching with clickers: Engaging and assessing students with classroom response systems. Presented at San Joaquin Delta Community College, Stockton, CA.
  • Bruff, D. (2007, October). Classroom response systems: An introduction to teaching with clickers. Presented at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
  • Bruff, D. (2007, October). Classroom response systems: An introduction to teaching with clickers. Presented at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
  • Bruff, D. (2007, September). An introduction to teaching with clickers. Presented at Castleton State College, Castleton, VT.

Conference Talks

  • Bruff, D., & Lucas, A. (2010, January). Teaching with clickers and classroom voting. Minicourse presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Francisco, CA.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, October). Clicker pedagogies: Supporting faculty use of classroom response systems. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Annual Conference, Houston, TX.
  • Bruff, D. (2009, March). Using clickers to teach statistics. Presented at the Mathematical Association of America Southeastern Section Conference, Nashville, TN.
  • Bruff, D., Cline, K., Parker, M., & Zullo, H. (2009, January). Teaching with clickers and classroom voting. Minicourse presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, Washington, DC. [Slides Day One] [Slides Day Two]
  • Bruff, D. (2008, November). A taxonomy of clicker questions and activities: Reflecting on current and future uses of classroom response systems. Presented at the Inaugural Conference on Classroom Response Systems, Louisville, KY.
  • Bender, H., & Bruff, D. (2008, March). Clickers as tools for engagement: Removing “cloaks of invisibility.” Presented at the Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group’s FridayLive! web conference.
  • Bruff, D. (2007, December). Thoughts on backchannels. Presented at the Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group’s FridayLive! web conference.
  • Bruff, D. (2007, November). Classroom response systems: Teaching with clickers. Presented at the Middle Tennessee Math Teachers Conference, Nashville, TN.
  • Bruff, D. (2007, November). Classroom response systems: Teaching with clickers. Presented at the Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group’s FridayLive! web conference.
  • Bruff, D. (2007, March). Supporting faculty use of classroom response systems. Presented at the Southern Regional Faculty and Instructional Development Consortium (SRFIDC) Conference, Chattanooga, TN. [Slides]
  • Bruff, D. (2006, October). Supporting faculty use of classroom response systems. Presented at the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Annual Conference, Portland, OR.