TurningPoint is a student response system (SRS)—also known as a personal response system (PRS)—used to conduct interactive polls in face-to-face classes, particularly in large lecture courses. It enables instructors to quickly gather information about students' understanding (or lack thereof) of course content. Students can answer muliple-choice questions posed by the instructor (and often posted on a PowerPoint slide) using response pads called "clickers" that are the size of a TV remote. Instructors also can use the system to provide students with immediate feedback and to aggregate responses and display them to the entire class in a graphical form.
Instructors can access, and provide students with access to, TurningPoint through WebVista course sites by creating a clicker registration link in WebVista. Students can then register their keypads, and the instructor can download the class list to use with the clickers in the classroom. Later, the instructor can upload the results of the session into the WebVista grade book. Select the links in the menu above for details.
To learn more about how SRSs can be used in the classroom and to get information about related campus support, services, examples, resources, and research, see the Student Response Systems page on the Digital Media Center site.
Create a Clicker Registration Link
To allow students to register their own clickers through WebVista you must place an instance of the TurningPoint KeyPadEntry on the course site. To do so:
- Navigate to the Build tab in your course site.
- From the Add Content Link drop down, select TurningPoint KeyPadEntry:
- Give the entry a name, and click the Save button (leave all presets in place).
- Now the TurningPoint KeyPadEntry icon should be available on your course site, allowing students to register their own clickers.
Register Clickers
- Open a Web browser and go to http://www.myu.umn.edu.
- After logging in, click on the my Courses tab and follow the WebVista link to your course.
- Look for this icon, then click on it (note that the text descriptor is chosen by the instructor).
- This will bring up an external Web page requesting the device (clicker) ID:
- Enter your device ID, which is located on the back of your clicker (6-digit alphanumeric code, no zeros).
Download and Use the Class List
Downloading your class list:
Note: The functionality detailed below is currently only available for the Microsoft Windows version of the TurningPoint software.
Once students have registered their clickers, the instructor can download the list to use with the clickers in the classroom. To do this (document uses PowerPoint 2007 and TurningPoint 2008):
- Open TurningPoint/PowerPoint, then select the TurningPoint 2008 ribbon.
- From the Tools menu, select WebCT Wizards > Campus Edition 6.0/Vista 3, 4.
- From the new window, select Import Participants Lists.
- For courses on WebVista B, enter www1.webvista.umn.edu in the Name field.
For courses on WebVista C, enter www2.webvista.umn.edu in the Name field.
User name for both WebVista B and C is your x.500 username.
Password for both WebVista B and C is your WebDAV password (go to http://webvista.umn.edu/instructors/build/webdav-vista.shtml to set your WebDAV password).
Example:
- From the next screen, select University of Minnesota then click the Next button.
- Put a check mark by the section(s) you would like to download the clicker registration list for (you can download multiple lists at once).
Example:
- You will be prompted to save each of the class list files separately, and they will have the file extension .tpl.
Using the class lists in TurningPoint:
- Once the files are downloaded, they will appear as options in the TurningPoint 2008 Participants List window.
- Select the desired class list, then click the Use Selected List button to start up a new TurningPoint clicker session.
Example:
Upload Session Data
Note: The functionality detailed below is currently only available for the Microsoft Windows version of the TurningPoint software.
If you have used a class list during your clicker session, you can upload the TurningPoint data to the WebVista grade book. To do this:
- Open TurningPoint/PowerPoint, and select the TurningPoint 2008 ribbon.
- From the Tools menu, select WebCT Wizards > Campus Edition 6.0/Vista 3, 4.
- From the new window, select Export Student Data to the WebCT Grade Book/Email Student Reports.
- For courses on WebVista B, enter www1.webvista.umn.edu in the Name field.
For courses on WebVista C, enter www2.webvista.umn.edu in the Name field.
User name for both WebVista B and C is your x.500 username.
Password for both WebVista B and C is your WebDAV password (go to http://webvista.umn.edu/instructors/build/webdav-vista.shtml to set your WebDAV password).
Example:
- From the next screen, select University of Minnesota and click the Next button.
- Put a check mark by the section for which you would like to upload the clicker session data, and click the Next button.
Example:
- Select the session data file that you would like to upload from your machine, then click the Next button.
Example:
- Enter the name you would like to give the column in the WebVista grade book and a maximum point value for the column (optional). The session data will be imported into the WebVista grade book as a grade column in numerical format.
Example:
- Once the upload is complete, TurningPoint will display a confirmation message.
- Go to your WebVista course grade book to confirm that the new column and data are present.
