Striving toward excellence in large classroom teaching (by Chiu, updated 4/13/04)

(ctalk- homepage is at http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~ctalk/)

Use of CPS at UT: The term CPS stands for the "Classroom Performance System". It is a teaching tool which has been installed in 11 multimedia-classrooms in College of Natural Science on our campus. There is also one installation in College of Liberal Arts at FAC 21. For the use of the system in the past and present semesters see "classdata" in Sec. I.2. Here are several websites for your reference: ( UT-cps- Bulletin("Bn") at the top of our homepage.)

• An article by Wood and Chiu (Sec. III.3a) gives an overview on its use at UT. Also Bn: 5, 6, 34.
• Student-survey results and past presentations on the use of the system are given in Sec. III.2, and
• Class-data on present and past use of CPS are given in Sec. I.2 and III. See also Bulletin # 1 & 4.
• For the first use of the system in college of liberal arts in Dr. Cullingford's class see Bn #18.
• For recent pioneering work in the College of Engineering. See Bn #37.

How does it work? What is the benefit in using the system?

• The system helps to implement Q/A sessions in a large classroom, where the whole class can participate in answering questions in an anonymous way. The results are instantly displayed in the form of a bar graph, which facilitates further class discussions. During Q/A sessions, the instructor may also encourage discussion among neighbors to promote peer instruction and interactive learning process. Class-session records are automatically retrieved and posted online once a day.
• Using CPS helps to create an active learning environment. Students often find themselves more engaged in learning. The bar graphs and the online class-session-record make a student more aware of goings on in a large classroom, and how he/she stands in the class.
• Instant feedback will help the instructor monitor the comprehension level of the class, and fine tune his/her lecture presentation.

Student’s cost: There is an online registration fee of $12.50 and the cost of a remote is $5.00 at UT-Coop, with a sellback of half cost. So the net cost to a student is about $15. During the semester, with this investment the student can enroll in all of his/her classes where CPS-system is in use. This price is by far the lowest available to us in the market. We will continue to work with our vendor to ensure the price UT-students pay remains competitive.

Physics undergrad committee endorsement: The use of CPS-system in physics classrooms and the student cost has been evaluated by the undergraduate committee of the physics department. The committee recognizes the potential merit in using the system in large classroom teaching and endorsed the use of the system in physics classrooms on a voluntary basis.

Is CPS appropriate for your class?

• CPS is not for all instructors in large classroom teaching! It is mainly for those interested in engaging students' attention, monitoring class comprehension level and using Q/A approach to further enhance lecture presentation.
• The decision to use CPS will involve making additional commitments, e.g. the instructor will have to spend more time on lesson preparation, such as to work Q/A sessions into a lecture, and to develop good questions to be included in his/her lecture notes. For examples of interactive teaching resources, see Sec. III.4.
• The instructor should also consider the cost to students. Whether a class will be benefited from using the system, varies from instructors to instructors. For those instructors who can effectively integrate the use of the system as part of their teaching repertoire, the benefit usually outweighs the cost.

How can one get started to use the system? Please check whether the classroom you will be teaching is equipped with cps-system (see bulletin #4). If it is, you will be able to use the system for sure, for the coming semester.( If it is not, you can still signup, i.e. step 1 below. Please also contact Morrie Schulman of Center of Instructional Technology, through email: schulman@mail.utexas.edu.)

1) Sign up to use the system. (Sec. I.2)

2) Attend one-hour orientation session: It usually occurs near beginning of the semester. We will announce the time and the location to all users who have signed up.

3) Firstday of class: Announce the use of CPS. Distribute student instruction. Leave student's questions to Tech-support.

4) During a class: Setup the response board (2clickes). Q/A cycles (4clicks). To end (2clicks)

5) During the semester, check online posting for student attendance/participation records (Sec. II)

6) End of the semester: participate class survey (optional).

The most important aspect in using CPS is that the instructor needs to work on incorporating interactive teaching strategy into his/her lesson plan. Through class observations and workshops, CIT and CTE plan to work with instructors to identify different pedagogies in interactive teaching; also to compile and further develop nuances in this approach .