Audience Response System
for use in The Department of Physics

Last Updated: 01/22/2014

      The iclicker audience response system can be used to poll the class for quizzes whether they're graded or not with essentially no start-up time. We now require that the student buys an iclicker from the book store. This will cut down much of the hassle involved with maintaining our own set such as iclickers breaking or going missing, constant battery replacement, etc. This way it is just a matter of plugging in the i>clicker control box, and you're already ready to go by simply opening the i>clicker executable file in your course folder.

      To prepare for a class the instructor can simply copy the folder "iclicker Win v6.3" (if you are using your own Mac computer go to http://www.iclicker.com/support/downloads/ to download the software) to their desktop from this webpage or the scratch drive at S:/iclicker. The software is updated so you will no have to make multiple copies of this folder for each section of your class. The new software will prompt you to register each of your classes, and it will save a folder inside the main folder for each class. Next, create your class roster in the file "roster.txt" located in the sub-folder created for each section. This will involve a list of you class in the form: last name, first name, pid. Registering the iclickers is a bit different than it was using our own system, but involves less work for the instructor. The instructor will need to tell the students to register his/her iclicker through the iclicker website at: http://www.iclicker.com/support/registeryourclicker/ if they have not done so already. Once their iclicker is registered the program will be able to identify the student in the program. When you first open igrader to observe the results of any polling you will see a "Sync" button on the bottom right. Click this button and the program will detect the students in your class from the online registration and they will appear in the program with votes from their clicker from then on.

      At the beginning of each course you will need to set your preferences for grading or setting up an instructor's remote. You will notice many more options to use in the preferences with the updated software. Take time to peruse the new program to see if there are any options you would like to change. Information on this can be found in detail in the manual below. This option is located in the startup window each time you open the program. After you've done this, just hit the Start Session button. Now there will be an iclicker bar which floats in the top left corner of your screen. Hit start to begin and stop when you've received all of the votes. You can set this up in preferences to count up indefinitely or count down from a predetermined finite time. You can display the graph of the results with the display button, and click on the bar over the correct answer to show it as correct. This shows the class the distribution of answers anonymously and also saves who voted what for your grading purposes. You can poll how ever many times you need in class, and you will be able to access this data later. All grading details you can take care of back in your office after class. Be sure to copy your course folder to a flash drive, the scratch drive, or somewhere else you can access it at the end of each class. This will enable you to give credit to the students who were there just for participation or for accuracy.

For further details on how to use this system in a physics class contact Josh Peebles in Robeson 207 (jpeebles@vt.edu).

iclicker Documents:

• iclicker Quick Start Guide (PC)
• iclicker Quick Start Guide (Mac)
• iclicker User Guide
• Importing iclicker Grades

Files to save for your course:

• iclicker Win v6.4
• iclicker Mac v6.4