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Getting started with clickers: faculty

  

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Steps to follow when you are ready to begin using eInstruction CPS:

  1. Fill out online form, ensure bookstore has been notified.
  2. Make key decisions about how you plan to use CPS.
  3. Install CPS software on the computer you will use to develop questions.
  4. Begin your learning about how to use CPS.
  5. Register your course via Blackboard or CPSOnline.
  6. Import your course into CPS on your computer.
  7. Communicate to your students about CPS.
  8. What are the basics on creating and delivering questions?

1. Fill out online form, ensure bookstore has been notified.

Once you have filled out the online form to indicate your interest in using clickers in your course, you will receive a starter kit consisting of software, a USB receiver, and a clicker of your own. The eInstruction representatives will coordinate with SDSU ITS to ensure that the SDSU bookstore is notified and an order placed for your students' clickers.

If you are a "returning user" you may notify Jim Julius in ITS and/or notify the bookstore directly - you do not need to fill out the online form a second time. ITS does need to know where clickers will be used each semester in order to ensure that the classroom computers have the software installed.

2. Make key decisions about how you plan to use CPS.

  1. Will you use Mac or PC?
    • Most instructors have a strong preference already
    • If you do not, the PC software tends to be somewhat "ahead" of the Mac software, though both are fully functional
    • As of Jan. 2008, you should know that it is not straightforward to move a CPS database between Mac and PC versions of CPS
  2. Will you use a laptop or a classroom computer?
    • Many instructors feel more comfortable being fully "in control" of their computer environment by developing and presenting from their laptop
    • Many other instructors prefer not to lug around a laptop
    • If using the classroom computer for CPS, you will need a USB flash drive to easily move your CPS database of questions and responses from your development computer to the classroom presentation computer
    • If using the classroom computer, be sure that ITS is notified about which classroom you are using to ensure that the CPS software is installed
  3. Will you use the CPS PowerPoint plug-in, or use the CPS standalone program running in parallel with other presentation programs you may be running?
    • This is not a strict either-or; however, you will want to consider which one will work best for you
    • The PowerPoint plug-in may provide you with more seamless use if you are primarily a PowerPoint user in your classroom presentations
    • Running CPS in parallel may provide you with more flexibility if you use other programs besides PowerPoint in the classroom
    • You will need to use the CPS standalone program if you wish to use clickers for paper-based quizzing or testing
    • You may use both versions of CPS with the same CPS database file.
  4. Will you use CPSOnline or Blackboard as your "back end" for uploading session results (i.e. question results, attendance/participation points, quiz scores, etc.)?
    • Blackboard pro: is familiar for most faculty and students vs. CPSOnline which adds another website for faculty and students to visit
    • Blackboard pro: once set up, assessment/participation data from class sessions is automatically uploaded to the Blackboard gradebook (if using CPSOnline, it is still possible to import results to the Blackboard gradebook - just takes some manual intervention)
    • CPSOnline pro: has a "study guide" feature which makes it easy for students to review clicker questions from class and their performance (this doesn't exist with the Blackboard integration)
    • CPSOnline pro: eInstruction tech support is much more familiar with CPSOnline than Blackboard.
  5. Will CPS be required or optional for your students?
    • It is very strongly recommended that you not make CPS use optional. Faculty who have attempted this have found it very awkward to use CPS with only a subset of the class participating.
  6. In what ways will you use CPS?
    • There are many strategies for facilitating learning with CPS. Concept check questions, attendance/participation points, low- or high-stakes assessment, gathering data, facilitating peer instruction, and game-type activities are some of your options.

3. Install CPS software on the computer you will use to develop questions.

You may install this from the CD you receive with your test kit; you also can always download for free the latest Mac or PC software from the eInstruction website. Depending on your computer configuration, installing new software may require assistance from your department/college tech support.

4. Begin your learning about how to use CPS.

You have many options:

  • Attend live online training offered by eInstruction. 
  • Download user guides from eInstruction (there are separate Mac and PC versions - beware, these are not always completely up to date, and may not always clearly distinguish between the various options shown in #2 above).
  • Watch the eInstruction Online Video CPS Training
  • Attend a workshop which may be offered by ITS.
  • Consult with eInstruction rep John Burgess.
  • Find a peer faculty member who may already have used CPS and would be willing to help you.

This document may also be useful to you:

  • Instructor Guide for Blackboard - indicates how to enable students to register their clickers for your course, how to originally get your class roster from Blackboard into CPS, and how to synchronize your class information (upload roster updates) from Blackboard into CPS.  

5. Register your course via Blackboard or CPSOnline.

See #4 above in the series of key decision points if you have not decided which one you will use.

When registering your course, you will need to specify a class end date. Please specify a date at or beyond the final date for turning in course grades at SDSU. 

The first time you register a course, you will need to enter the Instructor Setup Code which you should have received in an email from eInstruction. 

You will also create a CPS username and password. Please remember these for future use (when importing your class into the CPS software, and when registering other courses).

For Blackboard, you can find the CPS Connection in the Tools area of your Blackboard course.

To get the CPS Connection button to show up in your Blackboard course, the easiest thing for you and your students is probably to simply make that one of the main buttons on your course's left-hand menu. You can do that following these steps:

  1. Enter your Blackboard course and click on the Control Panel link at left.
  2. Click on "Manage Course Menu" under the Course Options area.
  3. Click on "Tool Area" in the Add box at the top.
  4. On the pull-down list for Area Type, select CPS Connection
  5. Type "CPS Connection" into the Area name box.
  6. Click submit

Once the CPS Connection button is available in your course, you can click it to register the course via Blackboard. Note that you may receive an error message at the end of the Blackboard-CPS registration process. 

Once you have registered the course for CPS and made your Blackboard course available, your students should be able to register their clickers by clicking that same CPS Connection button. 

You can register your own clicker after having Jon Rizzo create a "fake student" Blackboard account for you and adding that "student" into your Blackboard course. This is recommended so that you can use your clicker to practice your clicker sessions/presentations.

For CPSOnline, visit the CPS website to register your class. Be sure to keep track of your class key as you will need to share that with your students in order for them to register their clickers.

6. Import your course into CPS on your computer.


This step synchronizes the online course roster kept within Blackboard or CPSOnline with your CPS database. Once you complete this step, CPS will automatically update your local CPS roster by checking the online clicker registrations each time you open your CPS database (which occurs automatically when you start the CPS program). Completing this step also enables you to upload results from clicker sessions back into the Blackboard course gradebook or to CPSOnline.
  1. Open the CPS software (either standalone or CPS for PPT).
  2. If this is the first time you have opened CPS, you will create a database file to use with your classes throughout the semester.
  3. Otherwise, just be sure that CPS has opened the database file you plan to use with your classes.
  4. Go to the Classes area of CPS and click on the Import icon.
  5. Follow the directions in the Import Class Wizard to create a link between the course in Blackboard or CPSOnline and your own CPS database.

7. Communicate to your students about CPS.

  • The bookstore will indicate that the CPS clicker is a required course material for your course
  • A syllabus statement regarding CPS usage is recommended. Example:
    • A classroom response system (aka clickers) will be used in our course. Clickers are small handheld devices used to foster interaction, active learning, and quick feedback for faculty and students. You are required to obtain a clicker as a learning resource (just like a required text). Use of your clicker is part of the course participation requirement. You must purchase and register your clicker prior to the __ class meeting, and bring your clicker to class on that day prepared to participate. For our class, you will register your clicker via (Blackboard/CPSOnline). (IF CPSOnline: The class key for registration is ________.) More information on the registration process for your clicker can be found by going to http://clicker.sdsu.edu. Students may not use other students' clickers; doing so is a violation of academic integrity.
  • Be prepared to discuss with your students in class why you are using the clickers, what they should expect from them, that they need to be willing to let you experiment and even perhaps mess up a bit in the name of better teaching and learning, and what your expectations are of them regarding clicker use. Take time to practice a bit to let everyone get the hang of it.

8. What are the basics on creating and delivering questions in the standalone CPS program?

Creating lesson with questions

  1. Open CPS.
  2. Create new database if one doesn't already exist.
  3. Make sure Lessons tab is selected.
  4. Right-click on database name.
  5. Select New->Lesson
  6. Fill in at least the top field with a lesson title
  7. Right click on Lesson name.
  8. Select New->Question
  9. In the window, select type of question under the "Template" pull-down
  10. Fill in question at top, answers below.
  11. Put check in box at left of correct answer(s), if any.
  12. Click disk icon to save, disk and forward or back arrow to move to next or previous question in lesson.
  13. Close window when done adding questions.

Running lesson

  1. Ensure receiver is plugged in to USB port.
  2. Open CPS
  3. Ensure correct database selected.
  4. Click on lesson name.
  5. Click "Engage Lessons"
  6. On Session Setup screen, nothing needs to be changed, unless first time running lesson from this database, in which case you may need to select the class from the pull-down menu. 
  7. Click Start
  8. CPS toolbar appears. When ready to ask question, click Next. (If not asking questions in order, click Questions.)
  9. When ready for students to answer, click Start in question window.
  10. Adjust timer as needed.
  11. Click the graph to get a histogram, the arrow to move to the next question, or Close to go back to the CPS toolbar.

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