Analysis

=__**Needs and Learner Analysis**__= According to the // Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education // (Chickering & Gamson, 1987), engagement of students in learning is one of the key principles of effective instruction. In contrast, delivering instruction with just a ‘typical’ lecture format encourages passivity in learning and does not promote higher order thinking skills. In contrast, the use of interaction has been shown to improve student performance, thus making instruction more effective (Cashin, 1985). The use of clickers is one way to introduce interaction in the classroom. Additionally, clickers can provide feedback to students and professors and help in data collection. The lack of knowledge of how beneficial the use of clickers can be in the classroom, both in terms of increased interaction as well as in how they can help the professor, leads to a problem of motivation – professors are not motivated to use this technology if they aren’t aware of the benefits. We also believe that an additional problem exists – the lack of the technology skills needed to use the clickers. Our book topic will address these needs in the following ways:
 * Our target audience for the book will be University professors
 * The topic will address the need for professors to incorporate technology into their teaching to encourage interaction
 * The technology used will be student response systems or ‘clickers’
 * We will provide reasons for professors to use the clickers - with the idea being that if they can see the benefits, including making their job easier, they might be more willing to try them. Some reasons include:
 * the use of clickers makes class more interactive
 * the use of clickers provides immediate satisfaction - students get instant feedback to see if they understood the material questioned
 * the use of clickers provides valuable feedback for the professor - are the students really understanding or does he/she need to cover a topic in more detail or do some review before moving on
 * the use of clickers provides an easy way to present survey questions and stimulate discussion
 * testing - using them for grading and then having data that can been used to evaluated assessment of learning – this is especially important for SACS review purposes
 * faculty can incorporate existing presentations and materials
 * We will also include information on ways that professors can incorporate clickers into classes, especially so that they are not just used for attendance taking
 * We will include ideas on the types of questions that work well with the clickers during a class
 * We will included a brief overview of some of the brands available and that are in use, including the CPS, Response, and i>clickers
 * For the part of the book that covers how to actually use the clickers – the technology skill that is lacking - we will focus specifically on the i>clickers.

**Target Learners**
Our target learners are University instructors, many of whom use technology but often just for email and word processing. Several studies find that while faculty use technology to facilitate their research, most resist its use in their teaching. The ‘chalk and talk’ method of lecture is still the predominate form of instruction, with some interspersing of Power Point slides and overhead projector transparencies. Many professors do ask questions during instruction, but may be met with blank stares. Our learners certainly have the ability to master the use clickers, but existing attitudes are often negative when it comes to incorporating new technology. There is an existing perception that it takes too much time to learn, that it does not really increase student learning, that it is ‘not worth the effort’, that it will just increase workloads, that there is little institutional support, and that it is just too difficult for non ‘digital natives’. Our target learners prefer to learn from books and from one-on-one assistance, and are more likely to implement technology when they see it modeled in a class. They are also more willing to learn to use the clickers if they can be motivated and see the benefits both to their students and in making their jobs easier. Some of the benefits that would motivate our learners include making assessment and the subsequent data collection and documentation of learning easier, increasing interaction in the classroom, instant feedback for students and the instructors to see if the material is being understood during the lecture, and the ability to use existing material so that everything does not have to be developed ‘from scratch’.

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