CPSrf Student User Manual

(1)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 1

Classroom Response System Pilot Project

T U F T S C O M P U T I N G & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S S E R V I C E S T R A I N I N G &

D O C U M E N T A T I O N D E P A R T M E N T

CPSrf

Student User

Manual

(2)

(3)

Classroom Response System FAQ

What is a Classroom Response System?

Commonly referred to as CRS (classroom response systems), this innovative concept has become increasingly popular on college campuses in the last five years. There are many different products available, but the over-arching concept is the same; students use hand-held clickers, similar to a TV. remote, to respond to multiple choice or polling questions that the instructor posts as part of their daily lecture. The responses are gathered by a central receiver, tallied, and immediately projected back for all to see. With some creativity on the part of the faculty, this teaching-tool can be used to inspire class discussion, analyze the true level of understanding on a given topic, and review the previous day’s material. But, more significantly, CRS systems draw in and engage the students who reside on the periphery of the classroom experience.

What is the benefit to me?

There are many well-documented benefits that arise from the use of response systems in the classroom. The most common benefits cited include:

• The transformation of a passive learning environment into an active one has been shown to dramatically improve the retention of new information

• Students feel like full participants in the direction of the class and the speed with which material is covered.

• Students who are traditionally hesitant to respond or participate in class benefit from the anonymity that the pad provides, allowing them to be actively engaged without raising a hand or saying a word

• Faculty can more accurately assess whether or not a concept has been sufficiently mastered by the majority of the class and can adjust their lecture and pace

accordingly on the fly

CPSrf offers the additional benefits of individualized online accounts. Student responses to the questions and class activities asked in class are uploaded by the instructor to

the CPSOnline student accounts, automatically creating study and review guides based on each student’s classroom responses.

(6)

Why is this being used in my class this semester?

The Tufts CRS project is a pilot program, with support from Academic Technology’s APT (A Partnership in Technology) grant program and the School of Arts and Sciences’ Information Technology Services, designed to test classroom response systems in 3 Medford campus classrooms in the spring of 2006. The goal is to test the product, concepts, and viability of CRS at Tufts.

Faculty participants include: Esther Zirbel, Physics and Astronomy department; George Norman, Economics department; and Kerri Conditto, Romance Languages department. Although the use of response systems change the way teachers teach, the most profound effects and benefits are to the students. Your experience and opinions will shape the direction for this technology at Tufts. The project team will periodically ask you to fill out a short survey (we promise to keep it to two minutes or less) and will adjust the pilot

accordingly, based on your feedback.

For this pilot, the project team has selected CPRrf, a radio frequency-based product by eInstruction.

The eInstruction web site mentioned a per-semester fee to register the

pad online. Will I have to pay any money to use this?

(7)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 6 No; there is no cost to you to participate in this pilot. The cost of the pad and one semester enrollment code have been paid for as part of the project.

Who should I contact for help with a registration or pad problem?

One of the primary reasons that eInstruction was chosen as the product vendor is that they offer excellent support. Support information is detailed in the Getting Help section of this manual, on page 18.

In addition, you can contact the Information Technology Services Helpdesk at 617-627-5898 or [email protected].

You can also contact the project team with questions at 74862 or by emailing

(8)

Getting Started

Your CPSrf Response Pad

Your professor will give you your pad on the first day of class. It will be your responsibility to bring it to each session of this class. Please do not lose or abuse it! You will need to turn it in at the end of the semester.

• Each pad uses 2 AA batteries. If you find that it is shutting off soon after you turn it on, the batteries are low and should be replaced.

• The project team placed new batteries in your pad to start the semester. Your instructor has one additional set for each student. After that, you are responsible for battery replacement.

• You can not “join” a class until the teacher has opened the lesson in their CPS application. We’ll discuss how to join a class later in this manual.

• If you take your pad out of the classroom during a break and it can not send or receive a signal from the receiver for 5 minutes or more, you may need to re-join the class when you return. • Your response to a question will not register until the teacher has clicked Start in the CPS software.

• If your pad is not behaving properly, try opening the back compartment and reseating the batteries. If the problem persists or you have any other

questions, call CPS Technical Support at (888) 333-7532. • Contact ITS at 617-627-5898 for additional support.

Registering at CPSOnline

To activate your pad and begin responding to questions posed by your professor, you must complete three easy steps, all of which can be completed during one visit to CPS Online. You will

• Create a CPSOnline account

Press and hold for 3 seconds to turn pad on or off

(9)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 8 • Register and activate your pad with the provided Enrollment Code

• Register your access to this class with the Class Key provided by your instructor.

You will need:

• A connection to the Internet • Your Class Key -

This is provided by your instructor. • Your Enrollment Code -

This can be found on the sticker attached to the top of your Enrollment Instructions that are in the box with your pad.

• The serial number of your pad -

This is also been written, for your convenience, on the top of your Enrollment Instructions that are in the box with your pad.

If you wish to verify your serial number, it can be found on the sticker located in the battery section of your pad.

NOTE: The Class Key, Enrollment Code, and pad serial number are all sensitive. You must enter them exactly as they are listed.

Enrollment Code Pad serial number

(10)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 9 1) To begin the registration process, go to

http://www.CPSOnlinehe.einstruction.com/hggnstudent.cfm

2) At the “… select your Site or

University” prompt, click the

down arrow and select Tufts

University.

Next, click the Choose Course button.

3) Enter the serial number of your pad. REMEMBER: the number is case sensitive and must be typed exactly as you see it written on your instruction sheet.

Example:

r0336b1 = correct

R0336B1 = incorrect

4) You do not yet have a username and password and must create one. To create your account, click the Create Your Account button.

The Create your account screen will open.

5) Enter your information.

TIPS:

• You are strongly encouraged to include your email address. By doing so,

eInstruction will send you an email with your Username, Password, and assigned pad number.

• Your Username and Password should be something that will be easy for you

to remember. This is the name and password you will use to access your online account and study guides.

(11)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 10 • Only alpha numeric characters (letters and numbers) are allowed for your

password. Do not use symbols, such as %, $, *, etc.

NOTE: Account information is only available to you and the instructor.

When finished, click Submit.

6) When the Account Confirmation screen

opens, you’ll see the option in the lower half of the screen to enroll in a class.

(12)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 11 7) Enter the following information:

(All entries are case-sensitive).

• Your Class Key (provided by your

instructor)

• Your pad’s Serial Number

• Your Student ID. This can be the user name you created in the previous screen, your first name, or whatever you like. You are strongly encouraged to keep things

simple and use your user name or first name.

• The Enrollment Code (this is required for

the pilot).

This is located on the sticker affixed to your enrollment instruction pamphlet that came in the box with your pad.

When complete, click Submit.

8) When presented with the Enrollment

Complete screen, click the Enter The Class

(13)

9) You will see the title of your class, and the options available to you in the sidebar.

.

NOTE: Do not close Internet Explorer to exit. You must choose log out for CPSOnline to properly register and sync your new account.

(14)

Using your Pad in the Classroom

Using the pad to respond to questions posed in the classroom is very simple. When you press a letter or number(s) on your pad, then press Send, the CPSrf receiver attached to your instructor’s computer will receive your response via radio frequency signals. Unlike the infrared classroom systems, you do not have to point your pad at the instructor’s laptop or receiver to have your pad entries register.

When your instructor engages a CPS Lesson, the CPS Join screen will be displayed (your

class channel number will be unique).

To participate in a classroom response session:

1) Turn on your pad by holding down the power button until the lights flash on and then letting go.

2) Follow the instructions on the screen to “join” the class. To join the class in the example

to the right, you would turn on your pad, press the Join button on your pad, press “05”, and

press Send.

The Join window will keep a

running tally of how many students have joined the class. When the instructor see’s that all of the eligible students have joined the lesson, they will click

Close and the lesson will begin.

That’s all there is to it. You are now ready to participate in the classroom response session.

Responding to Questions during the Lesson

Your instructor can engage questions from many different sources, including verbal questions, the chalkboard area of CPS, or from PowerPoint slides. Note that any pressed keys or input from your pad will not register until the instructor has clicked the Start button

(15)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 14 for each question or opinion poll they pose.

Once a question has been posed and the Start button is selected, a large grid of numbers will be displayed.

These numbers correspond to the pad number assigned to you for this particular class. Pad numbers are assigned in the order you and your classmates registered for the class online

Select (press) the key on your pad that corresponds to you answer and press the Send button. You will know when your response has been counted when the number on the screen that corresponds to your pad changes from a white background to a blue background.

If you’re unsure of your pad number, the information was recorded by your CPSOnline account when you registered for your class. To check, return to the CPSOnline web area, login with your account name and password, and view your account information.

Notice in the graphic below that the student has several classes that they are registered for and that the Pad ID’s are different.

(16)

Using Your CPSOnline Account

Your CPSOnline account includes tools for managing your pads, changing your profile, and the ability to enroll in additional classes.

Unlike Stewart Nine, our test student in the graphic to the right, you will only be managing one class during the semester. Let’s use Stu’s History of

Snacking class to view some of the tools and

features available to you in your online account. We’ll begin with the features available from the account page and end with a look at the

customized study guides that can be automatically generated by your classroom responses.

Changing Your Student ID

You’ll notice in the graphic to the right that, for some reason, Stu doesn’t have a

Student ID listed for his Snacking class.

To edit or create a new ID:

1) Click the change link in the Student ID column.

2) Edit the existing ID or create a new one by typing it in the space provided and clicking

Update.

3) When prompted that your ID has been updated, click the Back to Account Information link.

(17)

Pads

You can also remove a pad association from a

particular class or edit the serial number of the pad that you are using for a class.

This is useful if your pad is lost or damaged and needs to be replaced. By editing the pad information from this menu option, your account data and study guides will remain intact and associated with the correct class.

Updating Your Profile

You can change your profile information at anytime by selecting Update My Profile from your Account Information page.

Type your changes into the fields provided and click Update when you’re done.

When you receive a prompt, telling you that your profile has been updated, click the Back to Account Information link.

NOTE: Your instructor will receive an

email, requesting they update their class roster, every time you make a change to your personal information. If you think you may be making several changes, it’s advisable to do them all at the same time.

(18)

Class Information

1) Click on the hyperlinked title of your class.

This will open up your class folders and information.

As of this writing, the standard sidebar elements include: • Home

• Grades • Calendar • Back to account

• Log out

EInstruction has recently purchased another popular educational application named Blackboard. They are in the process of integrating many of its features, such as

message, chat, etc, into the Class Information section. You may see additional options available in this section throughout the spring of 2006.

2) Click the grades link on the sidebar. The CPS Grades Assessment window will open.

If your instructor decides that a particular CPS class lessons will prove useful as a study guide, they have the option of having the results of the classroom session uploaded to your online account. You will see them categorized and listed with an Assessment Name, the Date Taken, your *Total Grade, the Curve (if any applies), and a Study Guide hyperlink.

3) Click the Study Guide link. Your study guide will open in a separate window.

*Total Grade is your score for the CPS Classroom session you participated in on this date. It IS NOT part of the grade for your class

(19)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 18 Sample review study guide:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The instructor of your class may not choose to use this feature. This is because the faculty involved in this project have all expressed a desire to use this tool to engage students, not to measure them. If they do not, you will not have review guides available.

(20)

(21)

Getting Help

eInstruction Technical Support Hours:

Normal Hours:

Monday - Thursday, 7am - 6pm CST Friday, 7am - 5pm CST

Extended Hours for the Winter/Spring 2006 Term: Jan. 9 - Feb. 17

Monday - Friday, 7am - 8pm CST

Technical Support Line

(888) 333-7532 or (940)-483-1901 (see times above)

Email:

[email protected]

Technical Support Chat Room

To enter the Technical Support for Students Chat Room, go to the Support page and select the box that says "Students- click here for live support online". Please insure that any pop-up blockers are not blocking the site.

eInstruction Technical Support Knowledge Base

To search for solutions to common issues and step by step guides to common CPS tasks, go to http://kb.einstruction.com .

Send an Error Submission Form

The error submission form is located on the Customer Support web page.

To send an error submission form, open http://www.einstruction.com/ and click on the Customer Support link. The form can be submitted from this location and will receive a response, typically, within 24 hours.

Tufts Support

Contact the Information Technology Services helpdesk at 617-627-5898 or at

(22)

Tufts Computing & Communications Services Training & Documentation Department 21 Project team members are also happy to help. You can contact the project team with questions at ext. 74862 or by emailing [email protected].

(23)

Pad Reference

(NOTE: This reference was written by eInstruction) Using CPSRF in your class

If you have any questions, log onto www.einstruction.com and use the Customer

Support menu option. Type in your name and enter the live test chat room for immediate

help.

If you would prefer, feel free to call Technical Support at (888) 333-7532 for assistance.

User Actions

Lights

Turn the response pad on by holding

down the Power button.

Both lights blink once when the pad is on. The red light continues to blink until you join the class.

Join your class by

pressing Join, your class’ channel number, and Send.

When you press Join, the red light will stay on. Each digit pressed after Join will be acknowledged by the red light flashing off. When you press Send, the red light will blink quickly until your response is detected. Once your

response is detected and you are joined to the class, the green light will be solid for 5 seconds and then pulse faintly as long as you remain joined in the class. Respond to a question by entering your answer and pressing Send.

Watch the red light, which will blink with each key press, to ensure that your answer is entered as intended. The green and red lights blink

simultaneously until your response is received. The green light will be solid for 5 seconds when your response is received.

Confirm an answer (optional)

by reentering your answer and pressing Send.

If your confirmation answer is the same as your original answer, the green light will be solid for 5 seconds. If your response differs, the red light will be solid for 5 seconds. The LED light states for confirming and answer do not apply in SMA* mode. In this mode, watch your pad number on the onscreen feedback grid. You number will flash green if your confirmation answer is the same as your original answer, and flash yellow if it differs.

Turn your pad off

by holding the Power button down for at least 4 seconds.

As you hold the Power button down, both lights will stay on for a few seconds and then go off, signifying that the pad is off. The pad will turn off automatically if it is out of range of the receiver for 5 minutes.

* SMA stands for “student managed assessment.” In this mode, students answer questions at their own pace, generally from a hardcopy document while progress for each student is tracked onscreen.

Using the Response Pad Buttons

Alphanumeric:

These buttons (0-9 and A-J) are used to perform various functions including answering multiple-choice and numeric questions.

*: Press this button followed by the Send button in SMA to scroll through the questions in your lesson. Press the left or right arrow key to stop scrolling.

(24)

+/-: Press this button to make a response negative. If you press this button twice,

your answer will be out of the acceptable range of answers and you will have to reenter your answer.

C: Press this button to clear your answer and start again. Pressing this button will not affect answers that have already been sent.

• Use this button to add decimals to numeric answers.

: These buttons are used in SMA mode to move to the previous or next question

Join: Press this button followed by the class channel number and Send to join the

class.