Interaction and feedback are particularly challenging in large lecture environments, where class size limits student-faculty interaction. Clickers can be used to ensure students understand fundamental concepts by providing instant feedback to the instructor about student knowledge gaps or misconceptions. The use of clickers also helps maintain students' motivation and engagement in what's going on in class, and provides an opportunity for Peer Instruction (PI). Clickers have been used since the 1980's in many science and humanities courses such as physics, biology, chemistry, history, mathematics, political science, law and psychology. But based on current literature, the use of clickers has only recently been implemented in large engineering courses. This paper demonstrates the use of clickers in two large introductory Structural Engineering courses at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Implementation details and best practices are highlighted. The assessment of overall impact on student learning using clickers will be presented through results a summative assessment of a post-course student survey. Additional evidence for improved student achievement will be presented qualitatively, including descriptions of student engagement in the material presented during lectures. Finally, the use of clickers to achieve Peer Instruction will be discussed in terms of its implementation, strengths, and limitations in the context of a large lecture hall environment. This paper asserts that the use of clickers supports an effective learning process that provides greater opportunity for students to get feedback from their peers and from the expert professor.
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