Penn Name | Tech that doesn’t click

What is a clicker? Is it: a) a nickname we so lovingly bestowed upon our TV remotes? Or is it b) a device used by college students to register attendance and to signal answers to in-class questions?

Although both answers are correct, the latter seems to be less popular with students. According to The New York Times, Audience Response Systems, or “clickers,” are used in hundreds of universities across the country to help professors take attendance and gauge whether students are doing their homework and paying attention.

Some claim that clickers are an innovative way for professors to compete with Facebook, BlackBerry devices and texting. Wharton senior Josh Lipman has found clicker surveys in his classes to be “a nice break from lectures.” Nevertheless, Engineering junior Nimu Sidhu doubts that clickers can compete with our high-tech toys, claiming that “interactive questions may be good for reinforcement,” but not necessarily for keeping students’ attention. Others see clickers as an infringement on privacy a la Big Brother.

While linking clickers to a dystopian society is a bit much, they certainly have downsides.

Many classes already place little emphasis on student-professor interactions, but clickers take the idea of treating students like numbers to the next level. Without clickers, professors — at least in smaller classes — have to take the time to learn students’ names if they wish to take attendance. But in classes where clickers are used, even this preliminary bond is sacrificed.

If attendance is that important to a professor, it would be more beneficial for the professor and students to actually forge enough of a relationship so students know they can’t be replaced by something that looks like a TV remote. As College junior Mansi Kotharinoted, “It’s a student’s responsibility to attend lectures.” When teachers take attendance via sight or sound, they can know with certainty who’s present and who’s absent. But what’s to stop someone from giving their clicker to a friend, saying, “Hey, click me in tomorrow since I’m cutting,” and then not showing up but getting credit anyway? In fact, the Times reported that in a Northwestern University class there was one day when students’ clickers made it to class while they did not.

And depending on how clickers are integrated into the curriculum, they can be an unfair form of grading akin to pop quizzes. Clickers make it so that, if a teacher decides to ask the class a question, everyone is required to submit an answer. An individual student’s answers could either be collected into a survey, or collected and graded individually by the professor.

The latter situation may be most concerning. In this scenario, students would always have to be on their toes. True, students are expected to do readings and homework in a timely manner. But not even the most studious among us can always have every homework assignment done on time. If we are busy, get sick or just have off-days in which our readings just don’t sink in, professors should be understanding.

Using clickers to constantly quiz students could not only infringe on learning but could also discourage and penalize students who simply aren’t ready to answer questions about the readings. Sidhu believes that if professors look at students’ answers “during the learning process,” they might develop biases against students who need more time for the readings to cement.

If we can safeguard against clickers’ abuse by both professors and students, they may be an acceptable option for reinforcing course materials. Still, they may only provide superficial solutions to problems with attendance and class participation. Perhaps the best way to fix problems with classroom interactions shouldn’t involve the introduction of new electronics. As Kothari said, “I sort of prefer the old-fashioned paper-and-pencil approach to teaching.”

Laura Cofsky is a College sophomore from New York. Her e-mail address is cofsky@theDP.com. Penn Name appears on Fridays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.