New Perspectives in Science Education
Clicker Technology – an Alternative Pedagogical Tool for Physics Lessons
Joseph Anthony Fenech, Chiswick House School (Malta)
Charles Bonello, University of Malta (Malta)
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate whether the introduction of the clicker systems in two Maltese, secondary, church schools can support learning. The study was focussed on how clickers were used during a set of physics lessons. For this research, teachers were observed teaching physics using clickers. The challenges these teachers’ experienced, the students’ participation and the level of classroom engagement were studied.
During this research, each student was provided a remote clicker in addition to a worksheet. The information on the worksheet was part of the data generated for the research. Following the lessons, six students from each of the four participating classes also took part in focus groups. These students described their experiences when using the clickers. They also described how they thought clickers compared to other classroom activities and how they percieved the use of technological tools during lessons.
Each of the participating teachers also took part in an interview. During the interviews, the teachers expressed their predisposition and attitude to the pedagogical tool. They also shared the benefits and concerns they perceived when using the clickers.
The research findings provide insights which indicate that clickers are of benefit to the learning environment. The clickers have the ability of initiating classroom discussion and instantaneously gauging students’ understanding. Even though these benefits were observed during the lessons carried out using the clickers, the participating teachers were still hesitant to introduce clickers on a regular basis. They felt uncomfortable when using new technologies and were aware that the lack of proper training was an issue.
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