<p>I'm just trying to get a head start on buying books/supplies for my son's next semester.
One of his courses requires an i-clicker. I know nothing about it. From what I read it's usually used in the large classrooms settings. It's listed for his Physics 11 class which is usually a small class. So I'm not sure what is the purpose there. If he does purchases it, can it be used for other classes during his time in Tufts? Does it make sense to buy a used one?
Thanks in advance for any input.</p>
<p>Hi, I have a daughter at Tufts and she has not taken any classes requiring an i-clicker. My son, who attends one of the top Engineering schools in the country, however, was asked to purchase an i-clicker for his science classes. The bookstore salesperson (who is an Engineering student) told me that he has had many classes requiring one. After talking with him, I decided to purchase the newest model (which just came out this year) so it would last him all 4 years. The i-clicker is used for pop quizzes during class, also to gage student understanding during class…and informally to see who is attending class. The i-clicker is set up with each student’s identifying info so the teacher knows who is answering the questions and in attendence. This was all new to me, also.</p>
<p>oops…**that is gauge (not gage)</p>
<p>Physics 11 will not be a small class (77 students are currently registered) and will indeed likely require an iClicker. Buying a used one is fine as long as it still works.</p>
<p>Depends how you define “require.” I think the only class I had the used an iClicker was Physics 12, but that was four years ago. The clicker added an interesting dynamic but I think the class would have been just as good without it (Professor Gallagher was great).</p>
<p>It’s a cool gadget but I don’t think it adds enough to justify the cost to all the students…</p>
<p>Well, I’m talking about require as in “your grade will probably be docked if you don’t have one”.</p>
<p>I had an iClicker in EC5, where it was phenomenally useless, and in Physics, where it was a small enough large lecture class to be surprisingly helpful for the professor to figure out where the class was. The cost though…definitely agree. The class spending ~$3000 on it collectively was not worth it.</p>