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Using WebAssign as a Clicker System

Clicker questions are one way to get real-time feedback from your class and increase student engagement. You can also use clicker questions as a proxy for class attendance or participation.

  • Your students must all have access to WebAssign during class.
  • You must have access to WebAssign during class.

For information about supported Web browsers for WebAssign, see System Requirements.

Important WebAssign does not require or work with clicker hardware. This topic describes how to use WebAssign as your clicker system in a classroom.
Before Class
  1. Create your clicker questions.

    Clicker questions must be multiple-choice. This lets you view the class results as a bar graph in WebAssign. You can use existing multiple-choice questions, or you can create your own questions.

    Tip In addition to specific clicker questions, you might want to create a bank of generic clicker questions, for example: 
    Answer the question posed by your instructor.
A
B
C
D
E

    Adding these to your clicker assignments allows you to ask spontaneous questions prompted by class discussion.

    Create multiple copies of your generic clicker question so you can add more than one such question to your assignments.

  2. Create a clicker assignment.
    1. Add the specific clicker questions you want to ask to the assignment.
    2. Optional: Add some generic clicker questions to the assignment.
    3. Configure your assignment settings as follows.
      Best Practice Create an assignment template with the settings you use for clicker assignments. Select this template each time you create a new clicker assignment to use the same settings.
      Setting Explanation
      Select a unique GradeBook > Category, for example, Clicker or Participation. Count clicker assignments differently in your gradebook.

      Also, if you use automatic extensions in your class, you can disallow automatic extensions for clicker assignments.
      Set Submissions and Work > Submitting Answers to Questions. Allow students to submit only one clicker question at a time.
      Set Cheating Deterrents > Question Display Order to Display one at a time. Help students focus just on the current clicker question.
      Set Cheating Deterrents > Shuffle question order to off. Help students follow the class discussion and answer the correct clicker question.
      Under Student Feedback, set the following items to Show only after Due Date for each of the following items.
      • Answer Key
      • Answer Feedback
      • Student's Score (all items)
      • Encourage discussion and critical thinking in class because students do not know whether their answers are correct.
      • Let students review their answers after class to reinforce learning.
      Set Automatic Point Adjustments > Bonus or Penalty to Add 100% for incorrect answers. Award students full credit for incorrect answers.
  3. Schedule the clicker assignment to your classes.

    Use the following options when scheduling clicker assignments:

    • Set the assignment due date and time to the end of your class meeting.
    • Enable password protection so students cannot start the assignment before you give them the password in class.
During Class
  1. Before asking the first clicker question, give students the assignment password.
  2. Ask your clicker question.

    If you used generic clicker questions on your assignment, make sure your students know which letter corresponds with which answer. You might write this information on a whiteboard or project it from your computer.

  3. Watch the results on the Grades Response Summary page for the assignment, but do not share the results with your class while your students are answering the question.
    1. Open the My Classes page.
    2. Click scores beside the assignment.
    3. On the Scores page, click Summary.

      If needed, scroll to the current question.

      display of multiple choice question in Grades Response Summary page with bar chart display of numbers of students answering with each choice.
    4. Refresh the Grades Response Summary page periodically to see updates.
    Tip In the Grades Response Summary page, you can see if any students are trying to work on questions you have not asked yet.
  4. When most students have answered the question, share the results with the class.
After Class
  1. If you did not ask all the clicker questions on the assignment during class, remove any unasked questions from the assignment.

    This ensures that your students who participated fully receive full credit for the assignment.

To implement this use case, see the following topics: