Spotlight

Katharine Traylor Schaffzin

Assistant Professor

A New Spin on Technology

As new technology springs up all around us Assistant Professor of Law Kate Schaffzin is taking full advantage of using new 'clickers' in her classroom.

The clicker, which is being used in Schaffzin's Constitutional Law II class, is a small hand-held device with a touchpad and screen on it. Each student is assigned a registered clicker that sends information to Schaffzin’s main computer.

Schaffzin uses the clickers daily for tasks such as taking attendance to taking class polls on controversial topics to even taking quizzes. The students punch in their answer then submit it on the touchpad. Schaffzin’s computer receives the information then sends back a confirmed status that shows up on the clickers screen so the students know their answer was received.

The clickers also grade automatically, so after a test or quiz the students can go to the website for the registered clickers and immediately look at their grades. They can also backtrack to see which questions they answered incorrectly.

A unique feature of the clickers is the ability for Schaffzin to switch the computer to collect the student's data in an anonymous status. She says this feature is perfect for taking class polls on touchy subjects such as pre-conceived thoughts on abortion or the right to die. Schaffzin stated "The students seem to answer more honestly when they know they won't be singled out by siding one way or another on a controversial topic. Some of the stats I found were quite surprising and I think the students feel more open to answer honestly."

In March, Schaffzin plans to hold a brown bag lunch for other professors to talk about the new clickers and some advantages to having them in the classroom. The new clickers were purchased by the Law School for the class of 2009 on a trial basis. With positive feedback coming from faculty and student the clickers may start making appearances in more and more classrooms in the upcoming years.

Schaffzin joined the faculty of the UND School of Law this year after serving for two years as an Honorable Abraham L. Freedman Fellow and Lecturer in Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While serving as a Fellow at Temple, Assistant Professor Traylor Schaffzin also earned her LLM in legal Education. She received her J.D. from Temple in 2000 and her B.A. from LaSalle University, also in Philadelphia in 1997.

By: Angie Barstad