Initial Experiences Using an Interactive Classroom Participation System (CPS) for Presenting the Iron Cross Biomechanics Module

The Classroom Participation System (CPS) is an interactive, computer-based instructional tool that allows the instructor to poll the class on important topics during a live lecture. Each student is issued a handheld responder that looks like a television remote-control device. The faculty member can pose a multiple-choice question to the class during a lecture, and each student in return presses a button corresponding to their answer to the question. Using a classroom computer or laptop hooked up to a projector, the CPS registers all the responses to the question, calculates class data, and then projects it onto the screen. This paper reports some initial classroom experiences using the CPS during a one-hour lecture on the biomechanics of the Iron Cross gymnastics maneuver. The lecture was presented in a series of Powerpoint slides. Interweaved between the slides were ten different questions posed with the CPS in place. After the initial lecture, the class performed an individual homework problem related to calculating the muscle strength needed to hold the Iron Cross position. Then a week later the Powerpoint lecture was repeated and the same CPS data were gathered as a post-test measure. In addition, survey questions were asked concerning student attitudes towards using the CPS live in the classroom environment.