UT Classtalk System

It was in the Spring of '95, that Professor Eric Mazur from Harvard University gave a talk to our department on his teaching method referred to as "Peer Instruction". In the same semester, Professor Michael Downer of our Department was experimenting with the Peer Instruction method in his General Physics class for Physics majors. I learned about the Classtalk system from Downer and Mazur. I was convinced that the system did have the potential to enhance the teaching of various courses, especially those general physics courses in our department.

The classtalk system is a student-instructor interactive system. Through a set of network boxes, students' calculators are connected to the instructor's computer in front of the lecture hall. Our Classtalk project was started with an AT&T Grant. We conducted the first pilot program in weekly discussion sessions in the Spring of '96. By the end of '96, as a part of a lecture-hall renovation project, we completed installation of two identical systems in two physics lecture halls in the Painter Building. The two UT systems have the best seat-to-port ratio among the largest Classtalk systems now in use.

We began a full scale operation with one system in the Fall of '96 in our Engineering Physics class. Some of the benefits in using the system are the following:

• Engaging student's attention.
• Instant feedback for the instructor and for the students.
• The posting of Classtalk on the Web makes students to be more aware of their attendance and participation in large classes.

It takes a team effort to put together the Classtalk system and takes persistent dedicated effort to make the system a viable instructional tool in our classroom.

• Our gratitude to the AT & T Foundation, from whom we received a grant which allowed us to start the Classtalk project.
• We thank Professor Mel Oakes for his guidance and his personal interest throughout the project. Thanks to our former chairman, Austin Gleeson, for his strong support of the project, which led to the installation of the two Classtalk systems. We appreciate
  • the support of our present chairman Ken Gentle and secretaries of Physics Department, especially Olga Vorlou and Pat Morgan,
  • John Kerrigan and his computer group staff,
  • Ricardo Ruiz of lab supply room,
  • Karl Trappe and Andrew Yue of lecture demonstration,
  • John England of the Electronic Shop.
• Thanks to our Classtalk assistants, Don Hinsin and Lixin Shou, who wrote the C-program which allows the transfer of the Classtalk system output to the Web pages. Subsequent help from Todd Tilma and Daniel Parcher is acknowledged.
• My gratitude to our colleagues Roger Bengtson, Michael Downer, Jack Turner, Qian Niu, C. Fred Moore and C. DeWitt, who worked hard to incorporate Classtalk in their classroom teaching. We specially acknowledge the ongoing dedicated effort of Jack Turner in improving the present system.
• Our thanks to the Dean's office of the College of Natural Science for the ongoing support of the Classtalk project.
• Thanks to Lou and Marty Abramhamson, Fred Hartland of Better Education Inc. Their technical support and encouragement have been invaluable.

In a long run, we hope that the present system will be used by more instructors in our department, and maintained by a classtalk administrator together with some minimal supervision of a professor.

Appendix:

• UT Classtalk System: Layout and Hardware
• Classtalk system is a commercial system manufactured by Better Education Inc. If you are interested in further details of the system please see the website of the Better Education company.

C. Chiu, Department of Physics, UT-Austin, Spring 1998.