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Core Concepts

To effectively understand and utilize KlickerUZH, it is important to grasp the four key concepts that form the foundation of the application. These concepts are as follows:

  1. Questions: Questions are the primary building block of the application. All of the activities provided by KlickerUZH utilize questions that are managed in the question pool. Lecturers can pose questions to the participants and participants can respond using their devices to practice content.

  2. Learning Activities: Lecturers can choose between five different types of activities that suit specific educational objectives and adapt to various teaching methods during live lectures (synchronous learning) or outside of the traditional lecture frame (asynchronous learning). The activities are: Live Quiz, Live Q&A, Microlearning, Practice Quiz and Group Activity.

  3. Courses: Courses help to implement KlickerUZH Learning Activities into a lecture structure, enabling lecturers to manage different activities and challenges effectively throughout a semester or over a certain period of time.

  4. Gamification: Gamification of a course, if enabled, incorporates elements like points, achievements, and leaderboards within all learning activities to create a playful challenge and enhance motivation and fun in education. Further gamified elements are course-independent and allow participants to create an avatar and gather experience points throughout all their courses.

By understanding these four key concepts - Questions, Learning Activities, Courses, and Gamification - you will gain a solid base for utilizing KlickerUZH effectively.

Questions​

Questions are the foundational component of KlickerUZH as they form the base for student interaction. Lecturers implement questions that they want to ask their students live in a lecture or as a repetition later on. Students/Participants can respond to questions using their personal devices, such as mobile phones, tablets or laptops. There are five question types available: Single Choice (SC), Multiple Choice (MC), Kprim (KPRIM), Free Text (FT), and Numerical Response (NR).

It is recommended to align the choice of question types with specific learning goals. For example, if you want to check whether the students have understood the previously learned knowledge, single-choice or Kprim questions with a clear answer are suitable (Example: What is the definition of the Sharpe ratio?). To activate students’ engagement, questions can be asked without a clear answer. This makes students think about the discussed topic being covered and gets them directly involved (Example: Where will the SMI be at the end of 2025?). For more didactical information please consult the use cases or UZH Teaching Tools.

Questions can be grouped and/or stacked for sequential presentation. Sample solutions and explanations can be provided for all question types, while answer-specific feedback is currently limited to choice-based questions. Questions can be graded automatically and yield points for successful completion. Customizable weighting (e.g., to separate easy and difficult questions) can be applied through a multiplier (x1, x2, x3, x4) that will impact the amount of points accumulated.

Learning Activities​

There are five different learning activities available in KlickerUZH: Live Quiz, Live Q&A, Microlearning, Practice Quiz, and Group Activity.

Live Quiz​

Live Quizzes in KlickerUZH involve synchronous interaction during lecture time. Multiple sequential question blocks can be activated at different intervals, allowing students to answer them in real-time. The lecturer can view student responses on the dashboard, aggregated and anonymously (e.g. 243 students answered B). The main focus of Live Quizzes is fostering interaction between the lecturer and students during the lecture.

Live Q&A​

Live Quizzes in KlickerUZH can be coupled with a Live Q&A that enables students to ask questions anonymously. Lecturers can answer either in writing or orally. This facilitates the immediate clarification of questions and fosters interaction between lecturer and students in the classroom.

Microlearning​

Microlearning is a asynchronous learning activity corresponding to a short learning unit with a limited number of questions. Microlearning questions can be published for a limited time and at fixed points during the week, such as one day after the lecture. The purpose of microlearning is to counteract the forgetting curve, according to which our ability to retain information rapidly declines after twenty minutes. With targeted questions, students can test themselves, refresh and consolidate their knowledge - regardless of time and place. This direct and simple access motivates students to integrate learning regularly into their everyday lives.

Practice Quiz​

The practice quiz activity allows for asynchronous learning with longer question sets that specifically target modules or topics and that can be embedded within Learning Management Systems (LMS) like OLAT. These learning activities have no restrictions on when or how often they can be completed, making them a valuable resource for students to monitor their learning progress. Furthermore, the questions within each set can be shown in sequence, shuffled, or ordered based on the date of the last response, providing varied experiences for students. When using gamification, the time frame in which points can be collected from responding to the questions can be customized to, e.g., once a week or day.

Group Activity​

Group Activities involve asynchronous learning activities consisting of a set of questions and clues that encourage collaboration and the practical application of theoretical knowledge within a group. Teamwork is encouraged through the distribution of information, where each team member receives specific details required to solve the task. This setup promotes collaboration, information sharing, and effective communication among group members, resulting in enhanced engagement and learning outcomes.

Courses​

A course is a way to combine various learning activities within a lecture (e.g., a course from the course catalogue). KlickerUZHMicrolearning, Practice Quiz, and Group Activites are specific to a course, while Live Quizzes and Live Q&A can also be used independently. The duration of a course is typically aligned with the semester or a predetermined timeframe, ensuring a structured timeline for learning activities. Gamification elements can be incorporated at the course level, creating challenges that enhance student engagement and motivation throughout the whole course. Further information on gamification follows in a minute.

Courses in KlickerUZH allows students to join within the KlickerUZH app and subsequently provides them with an overview of all available learning activities. The course content can be seamlessly linked with an LMS, facilitating a smooth integration of KlickerUZH within existing educational platforms. By incorporating KlickerUZH within an LMS, students can engage with the learning activities directly through the familiar LMS interface. This integration streamlines the learning process and ensures efficient navigation between the course content, KlickerUZH activities, and other educational resources.

Gamification​

As part of the gamification concept, KlickerUZH includes an optional challenge system in addition to the design of the storyline and visual aspects. Gamification can be utilized either at the course level or by implementing gamification into specific live quizzes.

Gamification at the course level enable participants to earn points for completing learning activities associated with a course. Therefore, students receive points when they participate in live quizzes and solve microlearning questions, practice quizzes and group activities. The points earned are shown on a course leaderboard. Within a course, students can also form groups to check how their peers are doing and take part in collaborative group activities.

Gamified live quizzes enable participants to earn points for answering questions in the quiz based on the correctness and speed of their responses. The points are displayed on a live quiz leaderboard during class. Accumulated points are transferred to the course leaderboard if gamification is enabled for the course.

Lecturers have the freedom to personalize the implementation of gamification elements according to their preferences. They can award achievements to recognize individual participants' accomplishments (e.g. Team spirit for taking part in a group activity) or giving rewards to further incentivize students' engagement and participation.

To ensure easy accessibility and improve participation, it is recommended to prepare a semester-long timeline outlining the gamified learning activities in KlickerUZH and the challenge details (e.g., if there are any awards for winning the challenge). This provides students with a clear understanding of what to expect during the semester, including when and where they can earn points to progress in the competition. If these elements are clear, students could end up frustrated and quit playing.