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Carl Wieman, Why Not Try a Scientific Approach to Science Education 115answer questions posed during class. A computer records each student’sanswer and can display a histogram of those responses. The clicker efficientlyand quickly gets an answer from each student for which that student isaccountable but which is anonymous to their peers.I have found that these clickers can have a profound impact on theeducational experience of students. The most productive use of clickers inmy experience is to enhance the Peer Instruction (PI) technique developed byMazur (1997), particularly for less active or assertive students.I assign students to groups the first day of class (typically three to fourstudents in adjacent seats) and design each lecture around a series of sevento 10 clicker questions that cover the key learning goals for that day. Thegroups are told they must come to a consensus answer (entered with theirclickers) and be prepared to offer reasons for their choice. It is in these peerdiscussions that most students do the primary processing of the new ideas andproblem-solving approaches. The process of critiquing each other’s ideas inorder to arrive at a consensus also enormously improves both their ability tocarry on scientific discourse and to test their own understanding.Clickers also give valuable (albeit often painful) feedback to the instructorwhen they reveal, for example, that only 10 percent of the students understoodwhat was just explained. But they also provide feedback in less obvious ways.By circulating through the classroom and listening in on the consensus-groupdiscussions, I quickly learn which aspects of the topic confuse students andcan then target those points in the follow-up discussion. Perhaps even moreimportant is the feedback provided to the students through the histogramsand their own discussions. They become much more invested in their ownlearning. When using clickers and consensus groups, I have dramatically moresubstantive questions per class period—more students ask questions and the