Academic Technology Center
Teaching with Technology Collaboratory

CPS Tips and Tricks

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Checking Response Pads

Goals

It is a good idea, prior to beginning a lecture, that you check and make sure all student response pads are functioning properly. The easiest way to do this is to create a "dummy" question.

  1. Depending on your preferences, you will either want to create a new dummy question in the CPS software or deploy a verbal question at the start of class.
  2. Engage your dummy question, checking to make sure that all response pads are functioning properly. If a student notices that the software did not receive his/her response for the dummy question, he/she make sure his/her response pad is powered on and try again by pointing the response pad directly at the receiver. If the receiver still does not pick up a response, try a different response pad. The batteries may have died.
  3. If the new response pad functions properly, make a note of the dead response pad and report it to a staff member at the ATC when you return your CPS kit.
  4. If you are still having difficulties, contact the ATC at x5220 for assistance.

For students: Using the New CPS RF Response Pads

The new response pads require that students power them on and off before and after use.   Answers must also be "sent" to the receiver whereas in the old IR model, once a response was selected, it was automatically transmitted to the receiver.

  1. At the beginning of class, students should press the power button on their response pads. The response pad serial number will momentarily appear on the screen while the response pad is locating the receiver signal.
  2. When a question has been engaged, students should push the button that corresponds with the answer they wish to transmit. It will display on the screen of their individual response pad.
  3. When students are ready to transmit their answer to the receiver so that final results can be calculated, they should push the "Send" button on their response pad.
  4. At the end of the class, students should power off their response pads to conserve batteries.

Team Activities

CPS can be used in team activities to make the learning environment fun for students. Teams of students compete to earn points for answering questions correctly. You can use questions you have already created in lessons as an exciting way to review for upcoming exams, or you can create new questions for the sole purpose of team activities.

There It Is!

Goals

There it is! employs the Student Managed Assessment mode in a fastest-finger format. Each team or student answers a different question at a time, so shouting out responses is useless. The first team/student to correctly respond to their own question receives bonus points. Teams/Students who answer correctly, but did not answer first, receive the standard point value that is set. Teams/Students that did not answer correctly or did not answer at all get 0 points.

  1. Run the CPS software and open your class database.
  2. Select the Lesson you wish to use in the activity from the Lessons tab.

Tip

If you would like to create a "Review" lesson with various questions from a group of lessons, create a new lesson in your database. Then, select the lesson you wish to borrow questions from and Copy Questions from the Tools button in the lesson. A duplicate question will appear in that same lesson. Drag and drop the duplicate question into the new lesson. Then, continue with these instructions.

  1. Select the Tools button and select Print Questions.
  2. Distribute the printed hard copies of the questions to your students.
  3. Go to the Team Activities tab.
  4. Select the There it is! Button.
  5. Select the Settings button and input any points values you would like to use and OK.
  6. Select the Lessons tab within Team Activities and select the lesson you prefer to use in this activity.
  7. Select Engage.
  8. Select Create in the CPS Session Setup window.
  9. Enter in your response pad ranges (located on the outside of the CPS bag you checked out from the ATC) and name your class (naming is optional) in the CPS - Create Class window.
  10. Select the Start button.
  11. CPS may cause a delay, but wait until the CPS - There it is! window opens.
  12. Select the Start button when you are ready to begin the challenge activity in your class. Students will need copies of the questions from Step 4 in order for the activity to work. Questions are not displayed on screens or monitors, only the pad numbers and question number students should answer will be displayed.
  13. The top number in the activity indicates the response pad number and the lower number indicates what question number the student holding that pad number should answer. They should refer to their printed hard copies of the questions to find that numbered question. Each student will receive a different question at random.
  14. When you are ready to end the question, select the End button.
  15. Select the Start button again to move to the next question and repeat steps 14-17 until you are finished with all the questions or class has ended. Scores will display.

Challenge

Challenge is similar to Jeopardy in that questions are awarded different point values. Teams of students select different questions worth different point values in categories.

  1. Run the CPS software and open your class database.
  2. Select the Team Activities tab.
  3. Select the Challenge button.
  4. Select the New button to create a new Challenge game board.
  5. In the CPS - Challenge Board Info window, enter in your board title and four category titles (you will sort your questions into these four categories).
  6. Click OK to close the info window and open up the Challenge Board window.
  7. Select the + sign next to your class database in the Challenge Board window under the Lessons tab.
  8. Select the lesson(s) you wish to use questions from for your Challenge activity. Questions from the lesson you selected will appear in the lower section of the Challenge Board box.
  9. Drag and drop questions on top of the category colored point boxes. You will see the "-0" next to the point value change to a "1" to indicate that a question has been added to that point value.

    In Example A, Category 2 has one 10-point value question, while in Example B, Category 3 has zero 10-point questions.

  10. You may use a single question in more than one point box, or put multiple questions into one point value box.
  11. When you are finished, close the Challenge Board window to return to the main CPS window. Select the Engage button to begin the Challenge activity in class.

Tip

You can prepare the Challenge and There it is! activities ahead of class time and save your class database updates to a disc, network drive, etc. and then run/engage these activities in the classroom. See Creating Questions in the CPS Software for information on saving databases to export to other PCs.

  1. Select Create in the CPS Session Setup window.
  2. Enter in your response pad ranges (located on the outside of the CPS bag you checked out from the ATC) and name your class (naming is optional) in the CPS - Create Class window.
  3. Select the Start button and the game board will display.
  4. Come up with a method to decide what student/team selects a category first and have them shout out a category and value.
  5. Select the corresponding category value button. The question will display on the board.
  6. Students/teams will then respond to the question.
  7. Select End to end the question and go back to the board. Repeat Steps 17-20 until the game is finished
  8. The final score will display.

Related Resources

References

1McGraw Hill. (n.d.) Classroom performance system users guide.

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Last modified: Aug 15, 2006, 16:44 EDT
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