For students in the Life Sciences Early Awareness Program (LEAP), classes don’t offer the traditional lecture-based learning experience.

Designed for first-year life science majors, the new program includes an integrated biology, chemistry and mathematics course that is team-taught in a single, continuous time slot. “During the extended class period, students work on interdisciplinary, collaborative projects in which they are responsible for gathering and interpreting their own data,” says mathematics Professor Patrick Shanahan. “Technology plays an essential role in this process by facilitating the investigation, analysis, and dissemination of results.”

One of those technologies is the Personal Response System (PRS), or as it’s more commonly known, “the clicker.” The device is a sort of polling tool – somewhat similar to the one used to “poll the audience” in the popular television game show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”

And how do the classroom clickers work, exactly?

The instructor poses a multiple-choice question, which students see on a large screen. Students then respond to the question by using their transmitters to select A, B, C or D. Results appear on the screen, displaying the percentage of students selecting each option. If most students answer correctly, the instructor can move on to the next lesson.

And if they don’t? 

“Then that makes for interesting class discussion,” Shanahan says.

The technology has evolved so the hand-held clickers aren’t always necessary. PRS software is now available, allowing students to respond using their laptops. The availability of the software means more LMU students in other departments will soon benefit from this kind of classroom participation.

But clickers aren’t the only innovation being utilized in the LEAP program. Students work almost entirely electronically, downloading course materialsnotes, taking exams, and submitting assignments, and even completing group projects through Blackboard and LionShare.

LEAP student Keyanna Adger likes the convenience of being able to access class materials online in an instant, while her classmate, Lauren Harrington, says the use of such resources has made hard-copy assignments nearly obsolete.

“I can’t remember the last time we handed in something on paper – or if we have at all,” Harrington says.

Shanahan says the use of the various technologies has had a significant impact on student learning. Plus, they seem to add a fun factor to the classroom.

“The students love it,” Shanahan says, referring to the use of the PRS devices. “When I say, ‘we’re taking out the clickers’, they say ‘Yeah!’”