Sept. 15, 2005 -- The College of Nursing and Health Professions at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro recently received a $13,000 grant from the Judd Hill Foundation to equip classrooms with educational technology that will provide a unique, interactive learning environment for students.

The educational technology purchased from Turning Point Technologies includes an interactive PowerPoint presentation, where instructors can display questions, surveys, opinion polls and complex problems that require every student in the class to select a response via their input device and transmit it directly to the teacher.

“It works much like the show, ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ For example, when the show host would ask the contestant if they wanted to poll the audience, audience members responded with hand-held devices. In this case, the professor presents his or her material on the board and the students respond by using hand-held devices that are slightly larger than a credit card,” said Jim Farris, director of physical therapy for the College of Nursing and Health Professions. He is the faculty coordinator for the new technology.

Instructors who use TurningPoint with the interactive audience response feature can track the performance of every student in their class. TurningPoint delivers immediate interactive audience response to students and educators. As a result of the presentation, educators can evaluate the collective understanding of the entire class or that of an individual student at the point of instruction.

“For those students who prefer not to speak in class, they can respond in a much more subtle way. This is a great way for them to give and receive quick feedback. Plus, the instructor instantly knows if everyone in the class understands the latest point,” Farris said.

The College of Nursing and Health Professions plans to use the technology in as many courses as possible that are offered in their areas. Then, further determination will be considered as to the merits of installing the technology in all classrooms.

“The lecture format of the professor does not go away here. And, the software is fairly easy to use after a guided familiarization session. It is just much more beneficial and can even be entertaining. We’re working on it now for physiology/medical terminology. When we teach medical terminology, a lot of information is needed. And, honestly, it is really quite boring. This makes it more fun and can add some friendly competitive games to the learning environment,” Farris noted.

Dr. Susan Hanrahan, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions, wrote the grant and submitted it to the Judd Hill Foundation earlier this year.