Clicker Question Revisions

The original question was: 

It has been a hot summer in Wisconsin. The average temperature for the last month and a half has been 80-85 degrees F with relatively high humidity. Your herd of holstein cows have decreased their overall milk production by about 1500 pounds over the last 4 milkings. This trend was evident prior to this large drop, but at smaller intervals for several weeks. This weather is going to continue for the next several weeks. Which of the following options would you implement to try and increase milk production during the heat spell?

A) feed lower amounts of feed during the day and more during the evening when the temperatures drop

B) allow them to stay on the "cow floor" where their is adequate shade and water

C) increase the amount of roughage in the diet in order to increase ruminal fermentation

D) only A and C

E) only A and B

The modified question is:

Which of the following options would you implement to try and increase milk production during an extended period of heat stress?

A) feed lower amounts of feed during the day and more during the evening when the temperatures drop

B) allow them to stay on the "cow floor" where their is adequate shade and water

C) increase the amount of roughage in the diet in order to increase ruminal fermentation

D) only B and C

E) only A and B

*The purpose of this question is to determine if students understand how heat stress can influence feed intake and milk production. 

*After the feedback from my group members I got rid of the "outside" information because as I came to realize it was more distracting than anything else. Ultimately the outside information was not necessary to answer the question. Most likely students would have read the scenario and question and by the time they got to the end they wouldn't know what they were supposed to be doing/looking for. 

Clicker Questions Based on the Caldwell Paper

Which of the following breeds is known for having large framed body and high milk production?

A) Jersey
B) Ayrshire
C) Holstein
D) Brown Swiss


It has been a hot summer in Wisconsin. The average temperature for the last month and a half has been 80-85 degrees F with relatively high humidity. Your herd of holstein cows have decreased their overall milk production by about 1500 pounds over the last 4 milkings. This trend was evident prior to this large drop, but at smaller intervals for several weeks. This weather is going to continue for the next several weeks. Which of the following options would you implement to try and increase milk production during the heat spell?


A) feed lower amounts of feed during the day and more during the evening when the temperatures drop
B) allow them to stay on the "cow floor" where their is adequate shade and water
C) increase the amount of roughage in the diet in order to increase ruminal fermentation
D) only A and C
E) only A and B

Pretzler Paper Take Home Message

I feel that there were several take home message within the Pretzler paper. First, it was very clear that the use of clickers was very well received by the students. Students felt that they were beneficial and made the lecture less monotonous. Secondly, there seemed to be an increased level of performance among the students, over all levels of education.

Finally, I feel that Pretzler made it very clear that it is very important to make sure that you are able to utilize the technology in a consistent and effective manner. It was mentioned that it is important to take time out of the first day of class to show the students how to use the clickers, therefore, decreasing the lag time during the semester.

Active Learning Activity

I feel that active learning is very important in animal science classes. It is important to apply in class activities to the real world.

 With that being said, I plan on having my students process baby piglets during a lab period and then reflect on that experience and relate it to their future. Students will be asked to talk specifically about the techniques utilized and why. Also,  how these techniques could benefit producers and consumers.

I would then have the students do a small group presentation providing their own opinions/outlook on benefits and disadvantages of the processing techniques used in lab, what they feel could be modified, and how these techniques benefit the animals.

This set up could also be used during the sheep unit as well.

This type of active learning would allow for small group interaction and presentations.

Assessment: The Students Perspective

Assessment from the perspective of the student is something that they can use to see if they truly understood the material that the instructor has presented. However, in order for assessment to be beneficial to both the student and the instructor the student needs to be driven and have a desire to learn the material that could be presented on a examination or even through group work. Instructors are then able to gauge where that specific student and the class are in their overall understanding of the topics that were presented. On the other hand, if a student has no interest in the subject being taught then assessment is most likely going to show their lack of motivation. This would also show their lack of drive to apply something to their everyday experiences even if they do not feel that it is important at the time! Unmotivated students would most likely frustrate the instructor because they are taking their own time to stand up in front of the class and relay this material that they see as important and beneficial and it is being ignored and “thrown in the shoe box” without a second look.

Formative Assessment Activity Reflection

The formative assessment activity helped to deepen my understanding of formative assessment. It was beneficial to work through it with my group members because they were able to clarify several things that seemed slightly fuzzy at first. Also, we were able to work together effectively to complete the task at hand. My group was able to identify many important features of formative assessment, but we had a more difficult time figuring out the definition between outcomes and goals. It was much more difficult and time consuming to plan a unit through the use of backward design than I had imagined.

Describing the most salient features of formative assessment to a science colleague would revolve around the idea that learning and understanding should be targeted in several ways, whether through group work, projects/presentations, and discussion based classes in order for students to get the full understanding of a concept without being lectured at constantly.

Student Mock Interview Reflections

Doing the in class mock interview was a good thing and I found it to be very beneficial. I realized that it was very beneficial to use a scenario instead of just asking general questions about the topic I am covering. The ability to use a scenario made the conversation flow much easier and allowed the student to talk freely and take the conversation wherever their understanding and preconceived notions took them. Also, I realized that the questions do not have to be answered in order. If the student is able to talk through one question and into another without being probed that is a benefit to the student as well as myself.  I would suggest letting the student hit a road block in a question and then give them a “small packet” of information to maybe get them on the right track and maybe the “light bulb will turn on.” They may not understand the topic completely at this point, but would be able to talk around some of the topics. After that I would just say let them talk and see where their thought process goes.