Audience response

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Audience response is a type of interaction associated with the use of audience response systems, to create interactivity between a presenter and his/her audience. Systems for co-located audiences combine wireless hardware with presentation software, and systems for remote audiences may use the telephone or web polls for audiences watching through television or the Internet. In educational settings, such systems are often called "Student Response Systems" or "Personal Response Systems." The hand-held remote control that students use to convey their responses to questions is often called a "clicker."

When audience response systems are used in an educational setting, they are referred to as Student Response Systems or Classroom Performance Systems. According to Kaleta and Joosten (2007), "Student Response Systems (SRS) or clicker systems are increasingly being adopted by faculty and are transforming traditionally passive lecture courses into stimulating and active classes...Once in the classroom, faculty can pose questions at pedagogically strategic moments in the course and allow students to respond using the second component of a Student Response System, the personal response unit or clicker, to send their responses to the classroom computer. These personal response units vary in size from the equivalent of a large television remote to that of a credit card, but they all essentially do the same thing. Students press a number from 0 through 9 to indicate their response to the question being asked by an instructor. The third component of a Student Response System is the receiver, which usually connects to the computer being used in the classroom through the USB port and captures responses from students' clickers" (p.2).

Contents 1 The Audience Response Process For Co-Located Audiences 2 The Benefits of Audience Response 3 Applications 4 Audience Response Systems 4.1 History 4.2 Hardware 4.3 Software 4.4 Future Trends in Audience Response Systems 5 References

[edit] The Audience Response Process For Co-Located Audiences

The presenter uses a computer and a Video projector to project a presentation for the audience to see. In the most common use of such audience response systems, presentation slides built with the audience response software display questions with several possible correct answers, more commonly referred to as multiple choice questions. The audience participates by selecting the answer they believe to be correct and pushing the corresponding key on their individual wireless keypad. Their answer is then sent to a base station - or receiver - that is also attached to the presenter's computer. The audience response software collects the results, and the aggregate data is graphically displayed within the presentation for all to see. Some clickers also have additional keys, allowing the presenter to ask (and audience members to answer) True/False questions or even questions calling for particular numerical answers.

Depending on the presenter's requirements, the data can either be collected anonymously (e.g., in the case of voting) or it can be traced to individual participants in circumstances where tracking is required (e.g., classroom quizzes, homework, or questions that ultimately count towards a student's course grade). Incoming data is also stored in a database that resides on the host computer, and data reports can be created after the presentation for further analysis.

[edit] The Benefits of Audience Response

There are many reasons for the increasing use of audience response systems (ARS). The tendency to answer based on crowd psychology is reduced because, unlike hand raising, it is difficult to see which selection others are making. The ARS also allows for faster tabulation of answers for large groups than manual methods. Additionally, many college professors use ARS systems to take attendance or even grade answers in large lecture halls, which would be highly time-consuming without the system.

Audience response offers many benefits to those who use it in group settings. These are just a few of the potential benefits:

• Improve attentiveness: In a study done at four University of Wisconsin campuses - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, faculty members and students in courses using clickers were given a survey that assessed their attitudes about clicker use in Fall 2005 and its effect on teaching and learning. Of the 27 faculty members who responded to the survey, 94 percent either agreed or strongly agreed with the claim "Clickers increased student engagement in the classroom," with the remaining six percent responding that they were neutral about that claim. (None of the faculty respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the claim.) Similary, 69 percent of the 2,684 student respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the claim "Clickers led me to become engaged in class," with only 13 percent disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with that claim. ^[1]
• Increase knowledge retention: In the same University of Wisconsin study, 74 percent of the faculty respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the claim "Clickers have been beneficial to my students' learning," with the remaining 26 percent choosing a "neutral" response. (No faculty respondent disagreed or strongly disagreed with the claim.) Similarly, 53 percent of the student respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the claim "Clickers have been beneficial to my learning," with only 19 percent disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with that claim.^[2] In a different but related study, Catherine Crouch and Eric Mazur more directly measured the results of Peer Instruction and "ConcepTests" on student learning and retention of information at the end of a semester. Faculty members using this "Peer Instruction" pedagogical technique present information to students, then ask the students a question that tests their understanding of a key concept. Students indicate their answer to the instructor using an audience response system, and then they discuss with their fellow students why they chose a particular answer, trying to explain to one another their underlying thinking. The instructor then asks the question again to see the new student results.^[3] The study authors used scanned forms and hand-raising for audience response in the initial year of the study, and then they switched to a computer-based audience response system in the following years. The "clicker" use was only part of a multi-pronged attempt to introduce peer instruction, but overall they found that "the students taught with P[eer] I[instruction] (Spring 2000, N=155) significantly outperformed the students taught traditionally (Spring 1999, N=178)" on two standard tests - the "Force Concept Inventory and the Mechanics Baseline Test" - and on traditional course exams as well.^[4]
• Poll anonymously: Unlike a show of hands or a raising of cards with letters on them, sending responses by hand-held remotes is much more anonymous. Except perhaps for a student (our audience member) who watches what the person next to him/her submits, the other students (or audience members) can't really see what response his/her fellow audience members are giving, and the software that summarizes the results aggregates the responses, listing what percent of respondents chose a particular answer, but not what individual respondents said. With some audience response systems, the software allows you to ask questions in truly anonymous mode, so that the database (or "gradebook") is not even associating answers with individual respondents.
• Track individual responses: The "clickers" that audience members use to send their responses to the receiver (and thus to the presenter's computer) are often registered to a particular user, with some kind of identifying number. When a user sends his/her response, the information is stored in a database (sometimes called the "Gradebook" in academic models of audience response systems) associated with each particular number, and presenters have access to that information after the end of the interactive session. Audience response systems can often be linked to a Learning management system, which increases the ability to keep track of individual student performance in an academic setting.
• Display polling results immediately: The audience response system includes software that runs on the presenter's computer that records and tabulates the responses by audience members. Generally, once a question has ended (polling from the audience has ceased), the software displays a bar chart indicating what percent of audience members chose the various possible responses. For questions with right/wrong answers, audience members can get immediate feedback about whether they chose the correct answer, since it can be indicated on the bar chart. For survey-type polling questions, audience members can see from the summary how many other audience members chose the same response, along with how many audience members (or what percent of the audience) chose different responses.
• Create an interactive and fun learning environment: Clickers are in many ways novel devices, so the novelty itself can add interest to the learning environment. More important, though, is the interactive nature of audience response systems. Having been asked a particular question about a concept or opinion, students are genuinely interested in seeing the results. They want to learn if they answered the question correctly, and they want to see how their response compares to the responses of their fellow audience members.^[5] The increased student engagement cited in the University of Wisconsin study (see footnote 1 below) attests to the ability of audience response systems to improve the learning environment.
• Confirm audience understanding of key points immediately: In the University of Wisconsin study previously cited, faculty members were unanimous in their recognition of this key advantage of audience response systems. In other words, 100% of the faculty respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the claim "Clickers allowed me to assess student knowledge on a particular concept.". Students also recognized this benefit for their own self-assessment. 75% of student respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the claim, "Clickers helped me get instant feedback on what I knew and didn't know."^[6] In a published article, a member of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Physics Education Research Group (UMPERG)articulated this advantage in more detail, using the term "Classroom Communication System (CCS)" for what we have been calling an audience response system:

By providing feedback to an instructor about students' background knowledge and preconceptions, CCS-based pedagogy can help the instructor design learning and experiences appropriate to student's state of knowledge and explicitly confront and resolve misconceptions. By providing frequent feedback about students' ongoing learning and confusions, it can help an instructor dynamically adjust her teaching to students' real, immediate, changing needs.^[7]

• Gather data for reporting and analysis: Unlike other forms of audience participation (such as a show of hands or holding up of response cards), audience response systems use software to record audience responses, and those responses are stored in a database. Database entries are linked to a particular user, based on some ID number entered into the handheld remote device or based on a registration between the user and the company that manufactures the handheld device. Answers can be analyzed over time, and the data can be used for educational research or other forms of analysis.

[edit] Applications

Audience response is utilized across a broad range of industries and organizations. A few examples include:

• Education
• Corporate Training
• Control Self-Assessment
• Delegate Voting
• Market Research
• Decision Support
• Game Shows e.g. Ask the audience on Who Wants to be Millionaire
• Conferences and Events
• Executive Decision Making
• Continuing Medical Education
• ROI Measurement and Assessment

[edit] Audience Response Systems

An Audience Response System (ARS), or Personal Response System (PRS), allows large groups of people to vote on a topic or answer a question. Each person has a remote control with which selections can be made. Each remote communicates with a computer via receivers located around the room or via a single receiver connected to the presenter's computer using a USB connector. After a set time - or when all participants have answered - the system ends the polling for that particular question and tabulates the results. Typically, the results are instantly made available to the participants via a bar graph displayed on the projector.

In situations where tracking is required, the serial number of each remote control or the students identity number is entered beforehand in the control computer's database. In this way the answer of each individual can later be identified.

In addition to the presenter's computer and projector, the typical audience response system has the following components:

• base station (receiver)
• wireless keypads (one for each participant)
• audience response system software

[edit] History

Since the 1960s, a number of companies have offered Audience/Personal Response Systems, several of whom are now defunct or changed their business model.

Circa 1966, Audience Studies Institute of Hollywood, California developed a proprietary analog ARS system for evaluating the response of a theatre audience to unreleased motion pictures, television shows and commercials. This early ARS was used by ASI's clients - major motion picture and television studios and advertising agencies - to evaluate the effectiveness of whatever it was they wanted to accomplish: for example, selling more products, increasing movie ticket sales, and achieving a higher fee per commercial slot. Often, a client would show different versions to different audiences, e.g. different movie endings, to gauge their relative effectiveness. ASI would give out free tickets on the street to bring people into the theatre, called the "Preview House," for particular showings where each attendee would fill out a questionnaire and then be placed in a seat with a "dial" handset outfitted with a single knob that each attendee would turn to a position to indicate his or her level of interest: turning the knob all the way left for "dull" to turning all the way to the right for "great." In 1976, ASI upgraded their system to become fully digital, have Yes/No buttons and, in some cases, numeric keys for entering in numbers, choices and monetary amounts.

Another of the industry’s very earliest systems was the Consensor. In the late 1960s, Bill Simmons, a recently retired IBM executive, reflected on how unproductive most meetings were and built a system to improve them. He named his brainchild the Consensor. In 1972 he applied for a patent, which was granted in 1974.

The Consensor was a system of dials, wires, and three lights; red, yellow, and green. A question was asked verbally and people would turn their dials anywhere from 0 to 10. If the majority agreed, the green lamp would light. If not, either the yellow or red lamp would light, depending on the level of disagreement.

Simmons teamed with a couple of others to form Applied Futures, one of the very first Audience Response companies. Although business was strong for this fledgling company, the Command and Control management style of the day proved a formidable opponent to this new tool, which promoted consensus building.

Audience response technology has evolved over time, moving away from hardware that required extensive wiring towards handheld wireless devices and small, portable receivers. Responding to Microsoft's dominance in presentation software, companies that produce audience response systems often provide a plug-in to PowerPoint along with proprietary question-generation software, making it easier for teachers, professors, and office professionals to integrate audience response into their presentations.

[edit] Hardware

The majority of audience response systems use wireless hardware. Two primary technologies exist to transmit data from the keypads to the base stations: radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR). A few companies also offer browser-based software that routes the data via an IP address.

Radio Frequency (RF): Ideal for large group environments, RF systems do not require line of sight to operate and can accommodate hundreds of voters on a single base station. Using some systems, multiple base stations can be linked together in order to handle audiences that number in the thousands. Other systems allow over a thousand on just one base. Because the data travels via radio frequency, the participant merely needs to be within range of the base station (300 - 500 feet). Some advanced models can accommodate additional features, such as multi-digit answers, short word answers, user log-in capabilities and even multi-site polling.

Infrared (IR): IR audience response systems are better suited for smaller groups. IR uses the same technology as a TV remote requiring line-of-site between the keypad and base station. This works well for a single keypad but fails due to interference when signals from multiple keypads arrive simultaneously at the receiver. IR systems are typically more affordable than RF systems, but do not provide information back to the keypad.

Browser-Based: Browser-based audience response systems are still in the early stages of development. They are software-only system, intended to work with the participants' existing wireless devices, such as notebook computers or PDAs. The software resides on the facilitator's computer, who creates a polling session with an assigned IP address. Participants log-in to that IP address through their own Internet-enabled device. The participant data is transmitted through the IP address to the presenter's computer, where the data is stored. The data can then be displayed through the projector and also on each participant's wireless device. Because the transfer of data goes through an IP address, proximity to a base station or line-of-site is not an issue.

[edit] Software

Audience response software enables the presenter to collect participant data, display graphical polling results, and export the data to be used in reporting and analysis. Usually the presenter can create and deliver her entire presentation with the ARS software, either as a stand-alone presentation platform or as a plug-in to PowerPoint or Keynote.

[edit] Future Trends in Audience Response Systems

Some companies are starting to take an all-software approach to Audience Response Systems by utilizing cellular text messaging networks and plug-ins for applications, like PowerPoint. These solutions don't require specialized voting hardware and are typically favored by traveling speaking professionals and large conference halls that don't want to distribute, rent, and purchase proprietary ARS hardware.

[edit] References