Using Peer Instruction and I-Clickers to Enhance Student Participation in Calculus

In my Calculus classes I encourage my students to actively reflect on course material, to work collaboratively, and to generate diverse solutions to questions. To facilitate this I use peer instruction (PI), a structured questioning process, and i-clickers, a radio frequency classroom response system enabling students to vote anonymously. This article concludes that PI and i-clickers enhance student participation and comprehension. It is important, however, that students write down their reasoning during PI so as not to be led astray by dominant group members. Keywords: Calculuspeer instructioni-clickerstudent participation and comprehensionhigh statuslearning index The author was supported by the Mills Scholars program and Computing and Technology Services at Saint Mary's College of California. Notes 1 http://mathquest.carroll.edu 2 http://www.cfkeep.org/users/alucas/iclicker