The anonymity of lecture hall response systems has taken the awkwardness out of sensitive questions in Timothy Loving’s Introduction to Family Relationships course, and a new clicker software will let the University of Texas associate professor have a more personal exchange with his students.
Loving will use the latest version of the i>clicker response system to analyze student answers by political affiliation, race, gender, and other demographics.
The new i>clicker version 6.0 [1] will still allow for anonymous answers to faculty questions, but the data slicing and demographic polling features will provide a breakdown that could shed light on where students from different backgrounds stand on thorny social issues.
The newest version of i>clicker is in beta testing, company officials said, and the software will be released in the fall. The i>clicker was developed by Macmillan New Ventures [2]. The technology is used at more than 900 U.S. colleges and universities.