Recommendations for iClicker Settings and Preferences

See iClicker documentation for more details.

1. Start iClicker (iclicker.exe).
   • if using iclicker software v5.4 or above then add a clicker course name and the current term into the Add Course window for each new clicker course before moving on to the next step - if you don't see a window that says Choose a Course then please update your clicker software. (See iclicker software.)

2. Click "Settings and Preferences" pane.

3. General tab (ok for iclicker software v5* or v6*):
   • set course name
   • set frequency code according to the assigned room frequency posted on a large sign near the podium
   • set size of iclicker bar display (either size is fine)
   • set instructor clicker id (id on back of clicker)

4. Registration/Export tab (ok for iclicker software v5* or v6*):
   • select Desire2Learn (D2L) in section 2 if using the LEARN/D2L course management system

5. Question and Polling tab (ok for iclicker software v5* or v6*):
   • all default settings are ok, only change if interested
   • with version 6 software, if numeric and alphanumeric questions will not be asked (typically because only standard iClicker remotes are used in class) then the iClicker icon bar can be simplified by removing the icons for these two question types: click the Numeric Response line in the right-side panel then click the Remove button; do the same for the Alphanumeric Response line

6. Scoring tab (ok for iclicker software v5* or v6*):
   • Number of participation/attendance points per session: 0 (change to 0)
   • Number of performance points for each question: 1 (change to 1)
   • Additional points for each correct answer: 0 or 1 (0 for participation marks alone)
   Explanation of Scoring tab settings:
   Points can be awarded by the igrader software for
   1. Participation (any student selection, right or wrong), but you set the number of points per session (all questions that day in class) rather than points per question AND you have to select one of five policies for the number of questions a student has to answer per session. I find it simpler to ignore the points awarded here by setting Participation points to 0, and then use Performance points for both participation and correctness.

   2. Performance points are awarded per question, not per session, as above. A participation mark per question can be given by setting "Number of points for each question", and correct answers can be given marks by setting "Additional points for each correct answer".

   The igrader.exe program allows you to
   • override settings for points awarded for Participation and Performance, and
   • select the correct answer
   for any question in any session.

7. Results tab (only for iclicker software v6*): default settings are ok

8. Base tab (only for iclicker software v6*): default settings are ok

9. Demographics tab (only for iclicker software v6*): default settings are ok

10. Click Set For Course button to save settings.

Changing grading settings won't alter grades in past sessions

Settings take affect in the current session (e.g. today's class using clickers) and if set for the Course, then future sessions will also use the settings. But, settings of past sessions will not be changed. The biggest effect this has is on Scoring tab settings, rather than display settings in the General and Question tabs. It is recommended to set the Scoring settings before using clickers in class, otherwise iGrader.exe will have to be used to change the settings for all sessions created before the Course settings were changed (see Scoring tab settings above).

Paul Kates
Mathematics Faculty CTE Liaison
pkates@uwaterloo.ca, x37047
Last modification date: Tue Apr 24 23:58:47 2012.