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What is a Student Response System (SRS)?
A Student Response System is a combination of software
and hardware that allows students to deliver almost instantaneous feedback
to their instructor. They are also known as Personal Response Systems (PRS),
Audience Response Systems (ARS), or simply “clickers”.
Among the many
applications, Student Response Systems are currently being used to:
- Gather
immediate student feedback and opinion
- Track
attendance and participation
- Assess
student learning
Why would you want to use a Student Response System
in your classroom?
To answer this question (as well as many others), please refer to the
articles in our resources page.
Which Student Response System is supported by the
University of Northern Iowa? Testing of three brands of Audience
Response Systems was carried out by an informal committee consisting
of representatives from the College of Education, College of Business,
College of Natural Sciences, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences,
Information Technology Services, as well as others.
Because each manufacturer Response system is
proprietary and is not compatible with other Manufacturer’s systems, it was
decided by the committee, that it would be in the best interest of the
university to standardize on one Audience Response System that the
University of Northern Iowa could officially support. By standardizing on
one system, instructors would only need to learn to use a single system,
technicians would only need to learn to support one system, and students
would only need to purchase a single keypad, eliminating the need to
purchase a different keypad for every class that used a different
manufacturer’s response system.
Testing was conducted on the following response
systems: The Reply System from Audience Response Systems, Inc., the Qwizdom
Q4 from Qwizdom Inc., and Turning Point from Turning Technologies, LLC.
Each system was tested by both instructors and students
during actual classes. Strengths and weaknesses of each system as well as
“likes” and “dislikes” from participating instructors and students were
noted and presented during committee meetings. Criteria such as ease of use
(for both the instructor and the student), ease of hardware and software
setup, and overall functionality were evaluated for each system. In the
end, it was decided by the committee that
Turning Technologies’ Turning Point offered the best all around
performance in the above mentioned criteria, and would be the officially
supported response system for the University of Northern Iowa.
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