Interface Model and Implementation Framework for Classroom Response Systems

Lectures can be enriched by engaging students with active learning components. Classroom response systems (CRSs), which run on the mobile electronic devices of students, make the "clicker" principle more accessible, facilitate active engagement of students in the lecture hall, and are well-suited to promote formative assessment. Opposite to direct verbal interaction, lecturers can receive and evaluate replies from more students and take those into account for their teaching. On the basis of recent insights of the author's engagement and experience with CRSs in an analytical chemistry lecture, this paper presents how CRSs can be used in lectures to receive rapid feedback from students and provide incentives to students to check and practice their skills. Furthermore, a guiding framework is introduced for alignment of aims with CRS usage with a set of guiding questions. The approach is exemplified with questions from the analytical chemistry lecture.