The iClicker student response system in use at SJSU.

The use of clickers for classroom polling continues to increase at SJSU with more than 6000 students using the student response system in their classes this semester. After collecting data from iClicker Campus analytics, Qualtrics surveys and classroom meetings with instructors, I presented results at the DET/CHE annual meeting. In longhand, that’s Directors of Educational Technology in California Higher Education (whew, good acronym).

Klaus Trilck, eCampus Instructional Designer, presenting at the DET/CHE annual meeting.

Presenting and sharing the SJSU “clicker experience” at DET/CHE had the benefit of receiving feedback, experiences and insights from colleagues at other institutions. Although SJSU is licensed for iClicker, this presentation included an open discussion regarding a variety of student response systems with varying features, limitations and relevance.

Professor Kourosh Youssefi uses iClicker with over 500 students in his Mechanical Engineering classes.

The SJSU experience showed that iClicker:
• Supports a spectrum of disciplines.
• Supports all class sizes, from less than 25 to more than 200 students.
• Involves all student classifications from frosh through grads.
• Engages all students.
• Encourages active learning.

Students use their own devices when taking polls with iClicker in Professor Gregory Hanle’s Economics class.

Here’s a brief sample from the survey of faculty currently using iClicker in their classes:

Q: Why use iClickers?
A. To improve student interaction/participation and to assess student’s understanding of course content.

Q: How does the use of iClickers improve the classroom experience?
A. Clickers get students involved and learning and applying learning during class opposed to just taking notes and then learning the material later.

Q: How has the use of iClickers affected your teaching?
A. It helps me catch questions and confusions right away, rather than letting them linger. I can go over material again and make sure that everyone has fully understood the topic/concept before moving on.

Q: How does the use of iClickers improve your classroom experience?
A1. Class time is livelier.
A2. Motivates students to perform well.
A3. Keeps students alert and involved.

Q: What advice would you give faculty considering the use of iClickers in their class?
A1. Utilize eCampus program development staff – they are really helpful and
knowledgeable.
A2. Use it!

Using it is indeed a good way to see how well iClicker can work in your class. eCampus provides support and presents workshops. Learn more at sjsu.edu/ecampus.

  (Girivardhan Jigajinni- Top) (Vaibhav Kanchan-Bottom)

Girivardhan Jigajinni and Vaibhav Kanchan are the student assistants who in charge of helping the SJSU community with anything and everything eCampus related. Both are graduating this December with Masters in Electrical Engineering and presented their Masters Project in the Ballroom of the Student Union on Oct. 30th. Girivardhan better known as ‘Giri’ in the office has worked on his Masters Project for the past two semesters. His project, ‘Design and Analysis of Edge Computing in High-Speed Networks’ focused on cloud network and reducing lag. Giri says, “This network is used to perform computation at the “Edge” of cloud network thereby increasing computational speed, reducing data center loads and decreasing latency.  Amazon Web services, a cloud-based software was used to perform analysis of the packets traveling to the edge and the cloud nodes thereby helping in calculating the latency of the packets. The size of the edge network is optimized, and the computing speed is measured for both cloud and edge nodes”. There were many obstacles Giri and his partner faced while working on the project but they overcame them through wit and determination.  Giri states the hardest part of the project was researching and figuring out what works and what doesn’t. “The research took the longest. It is new tech and we couldn’t find proper simulation tools to analyze this technology”, Giri stated. With graduation creeping up he says he is glad he got to work on a project like this. He states, “I got to learn about new tech which is trending in the new market. It is exciting to be a part of it”.

Vaibhav’s project, ‘Study of Quantization & Bit-Width Augmentation for DNN on FPGA’ focuses on, “Neural Network models designed to target hardware model (FPGA), engineered to maximize precision and throughput while lessening energy and cost, which demonstrates the feasibility of adoption”, Vaibhav states. He goes on to say, “Human Brain and Machines work in different ways. Artificial Intelligence has been proving its worth in this industry for a decade now and would be a prominent aspect of the future. Data Processing rate, Power consumption, Computation needs, and Memory Maps have significantly increased”. Vaibhav told me it took him two semesters including summer break to complete the project. The most challenging part of the project for him was the Algorithm Definition and Hardware realization. He cheerfully said, “I am a thrill and happy of the creative efforts and the hard work we did”.

We here at eCampus are incredibly proud of our students assistants for continuing to be innovators and dedicated students in their field. Stop by IRC-206, M-F, 9AM-5PM for any and all eCampus related questions.

GIS Day came and went here at SJSU. Thousands across the world celebrated the growth and impact geographical information systems (GIS) have on our everyday lives. The first-ever GIS Day was taken place in 1999 celebrated and founded by Jack Dangermond (President and co-founder of ESRI) who says he was inspired by Ralph Nader to come up with the day.

We often don’t think how much GIS  impacts our daily lives. Whether we are using GPS, using social media ‘check-ins’ or using it for scientific reasons, GIS plays a pivotal role in how we understand geographical epidemics and how we express ourselves. SJSU celebrated GIS Day by collaborating with eCampus, the geography and geology departments to hold an informational conference where students and faculty spoke about research conducted, programs used and next steps for GIS. The event was held in the conference rooms on the second floor of the student union. The event started with the students who won the ESRI Story Map Competition that many students competed in but only 3 lucky students were selected as winners.

While I was there many undergrad and graduate students briefly spoke about the research they conducted all over San Jose and California. It was a very welcoming and friendly atmosphere and I can tell everyone was there for the same reason which was seeing the data these future leaders had conducted. When I was speaking with the student presenters, they stated that the opportunity to show their work to faculty and staff meant so much to them as it validated and made their work seem real. As student researchers, its often we feel like the research we conduct doesn’t have any real significance but they in that time and space felt confident and proud of what they have done. Lastly, eCampus Director, Jennifer Redd also spoke about the new Adobe programs that have an emphasis on GIS and how to utilize them to their fullest extent.

The event was full of promise, hope for the future and a unique togetherness. Those that showed out definitely had an amazing time and learned from each other’s work. We hope next year, even more, people will show up and look forward to seeing all the new research and work being done with the use of GIS.

San Jose State University offers a variety of learning spaces in support of innovative teaching and active learning. Classrooms equipped with current instructional technologies and capable of flexible spacial arrangements encourage collaboration and foster innovative thinking. Many classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art audio, visual and conference technology to enhance the collaboration and communication with students and instructors /speakers—both onsite and at remote locations.

Explore this 360-degree photo of Room 101 in Morris Dailey. eCampus has included 360-degree photos of some classrooms on the Learning Spaces page of our website. In addition to classroom resources, check out the wide array of programs, workshops, teaching tools and support detailed on the eCampus website.

In August, we focused on Katherine Johnson who is a legendary mathematician and a NASA scientist. She helped propel mankind to the moon with her mathematical equations and applications. She was depicted in the featured film, “Hidden Figures” and we urge you all to go watch it to get a glimpse of her life and her character. Ms. Johnson is an amazing person with impeccable work ethic, rich history and an amazing story.