Classroom Performance System (CPS)

v.3.6

Quick Course

Teacher’s Guide


CPS Course Outline

Introduction

A. Objectives of the CPS training course

B. What CPS can do for you!

CPS as an Instructional Tool

CPS as an Assessment Tool

CPS as an Evaluation Tool

CPS as a Review Tool

CPS as a Testing Tool

C.Elements of CPS

System Requirements

Hardware

IR Pads

RF Pads

Software

Training course Activities

A. The CPS database

Open an Existing CPS File

Create a New CPS File

B.The Classes Tab

Create a New Class

Add Students to a CPS Class

Class Roster Tips and Suggestions

C.The Standards Tab

Install State Standards

Import Standards into Your CPS Database

D.The Lessons Tab

Ask Verbal Questions during your Class

Chalkboard

Organizing Lessons from the Lessons Tab

Create Lesson Names

Create Lesson Names

Use FastGrade from the Lessons Tab

Associate Standards with a FastGrade Lesson

Develop Questions inside a CPS Lesson

Associate Standards to Question

E.Deliver CPS Questions with Reports

Other Options of the CPS Engage Taskbar

Select a question, by number

Delivering Spontaneous Questions

Various Feedback Results and Settings

Teacher Managed Options tab

Student Managed Options tab

Feedback Grid Options tab

Com Port

Randomly Select a Student

Exit or Close CPS

F.Team Activities

Top Score

There it is! Delivery

Helpful Hints Using CPS

Introduction

A.Objectives of the CPS training course

Achieving the objectives of this course help you develop your CPS skills and become a more effective instructor with CPS. This educational system is designed to

  1. Engage all students
  2. Provide instant feedback to teachers and students
  3. Collect all objective student performance results
  4. Increase the flow of student performance data
  5. Eliminate the administrative tasks of grading objective questions (both homework and tests)
  6. Provide an electronic gradebook with reports

B.What CPS can do for you!

CPS is most effective when used one of two ways:

  • As an Instructional tool in the classroom. Absolutely no preparation work is necessary to use CPS in the classroom.
  • As an Assessment tool for student performance records. Record student feedback from paper or CPS homework, tests, quizzes, and more.

You can also use CPS as

  • An evaluation tool
  • A review tool
  • A testing tool

CPS as an Instructional Tool

You can use CPS immediately without creating any questions. Use the CPS Verbal Questions function to ask questions during your lecture in coordination with existing questions from the textbook, from your own PowerPoint presentation, from a question database, or any other non-CPS question source. CPS is capable of collecting class feedback and recording it for your grading and administrative use.

The following illustration shows that you can run your PowerPoint presentation and CPS simultaneously. The slide is projected along with the CPS Verbal Questions taskbar. From this taskbar you ask a verbal question in any one of six question types and students use their response pads to record their answer.

You can also type in questions to coordinate with your course material. Please ask your instructor where you can find instructions about how to do that.

CPS as an Assessment Tool

In addition to asking verbal questions on-the-fly, students can respond to hardcopy worksheets and CPS homework, tests, quizzes, and other class work with their response pads.

Use the FastGrade function from the Toolicon on the Lessons tab to create an answer template that coordinates with your existing paper in-class assignments, homework, quizzes or tests—without spending time typing in the questions. Then engage the FastGrade assessment and leave the grading to CPS.

To use the FastGrade template

  1. Click the Tool icon
  2. Select the FastGrade function
  3. Title your lesson
  4. Click on the correct answer for each question. Illustrated below is the FastGrade assessment window.

FastGrade Template window

When students arrive to class with their homework or they finish their in-class assignment, deliver your FastGrade lesson and have the students input their answers with their response pads. Your grading time decreases from hours at home to minutes in class.

CPS as an Evaluation Tool

At the end of asking any question, verbal, FastGrade, or CPS lesson, you will see the Percent Correct for that question. As an instructor, you can look at this percentage and determine if you need to immediately go back and re-teach this topic.

CPS as a Review Tool

Use our Team Activities function to deliver a fastest-finger type game called There it is! to review previously studied topics. This is a great way to divide your class into teams and work on collaborative learning.

CPS as a Testing Tool

The Student Managed Assessment, the Student Managed Practice, Teacher-Led Student Managed Assessment, or the Teacher Managed Assessment mode can be used to deliver a test to your class.

The Teacher Managed Assessment works like your lecture lessons, where students take the paper test first at their own speed, then input the answers for each question with their response pads. You control the pace of the questions as they answer with their response pads.

The Student Managed Assessment and the Student Managed Practice allows students to answer questions and input them into CPS with their response pads at their own pace.

The Teacher-Led Student Managed Assessment mode is ideal for giving multiple-version tests. Create a FastGrade answer key for each of the different test versions, then distribute the versions to your students. As you move question by question, each student answers their question. After you are finished, CPS will grade all of the versions for you!

C.Elements of CPS

System Requirements

  • Intel Pentium II or higher processor
  • One USB port
  • A minimum of 256 MB RAM
  • At least 300 MB of hard drive space for CPS software; databases may require more hard drive space
  • Windows 98 operating system or higher
  • Screen resolution of 800x600 or higher

We recommend using a projection system, such as a projector, LCD, or TV. However, a projection system is not required to run CPS.

Hardware

The CPS classroom setup will consist of the following:

  • Teacher classroom computer- desktop or laptop
  • Response receiver unit
  • Student response pads

The student response pads have unique buttons representing multiple-choice, true-false and yes-no type question answers.

IR Pads

Multiple-choice questions are answered using the A-E buttons. Button options not included as an answer option for a given multiple-choice question will be disabled for that particular question.

True-false and yes-no questions are answered by using the A and B buttons respectively.

  • Button Arepresents true or yes and button B represents false or no.
  • The F button is a question scrolling function. Students can use this during the Student Managed Assessment or Practice mode deliveries. Just press on the F button to advance through each question at an interval of less than a second. This is a great function if students want to answer questions 1-5, skip question 6-11, and go onto questions 12-20. They can also go back to the skipped questions. Press the F button again to stop the scrolling.
  • Under the Gand Hbutton are directional arrows. Students use this function during Student Managed Assessment and Practice mode deliveries. It allows students to go backwards or forwards to questions, checking their answers or answering any skipped questions.

When students are ready to answer a question, they simply point the response pad at the receiver unit connected to the teacher’s personal computer, press and release the button representing their answer.

RF Pads

You can also use radio frequency technology with CPS. Using CPSRF for Higher Ed, you can engage a class with up to 1000 students per receiver. RF technology also allows you to ask numeric questions. For example, you can ask the question, “What is three squared?” and allow your students to input their answer.

Software

A CPS database is the hub of all of your activity. It is designated, in Microsoft Windows terminology, as a file with an extension of *.cps. CPS database file name examples include

  • 6th Grade.cps
  • TracysLessons.cps
  • MyLessons.cps

Each CPS database is like a container that holds the following components:

  • CPS lessons
  • CPS standards
  • CPS team activities
  • CPS classes
  • CPS reports
  • CPS gradebook

Training course Activities

The following sections of instruction are most effective with hands-on participation from you.

A.The CPS database

Open an Existing CPS File

After starting the CPS, you can create a new databaseor open an existing database. The CPS install CD comes with existing sample databases that have been installed onto your system prior to this training session.

To open an existing CPS database:

  1. Open CPS from your desktop icon.
  2. Select the Open database option from the File menu. The Open CPS File dialog box opens.
  1. In the Look in drop-down list click the arrow and find this file path:

C:\Program Files\eInstruction\CPS_Databases\Sample Databases\Engaging Kids Sample Content

When you open the Engaging Kids Sample Content folder, you will see the file Engaging Kids Sample Content.cps in the white box. This is the database you want to open.

  1. Select the file.
  2. Click Open.

In this illustration, the open database is identified at the title bar of the window. It is the Engaging Kids Sample Content.cps database and is located at the file path it displays at the top left corner of the screen. You can see it has multiple lessons with many questions in each.

Now let’s create your own CPS file so you can add your classes and lessons and save student performance feedback.

Create a New CPS File

The instructions below will show you how to create a new database called CPS Lessons.cps and place it in a folder called CPS Training directly below your C:\eInstruction\CPS_Databases folder.

  1. Open CPS from your desktop icon and click the File menu.
  2. Select the New Database command. The New CPS File dialog box opens.
  3. Use the Save in drop-down list to locate the CPS_Databases folder.
  4. Use the Create New Folder icon to create a folder named CPS Training.
  1. Double-click the CPS Training folder so that it is displayed in the Save in box.
  2. In the File name portion of the dialog box, type the database name CPS Lessons.
  3. Click Save.

After completing the above steps, the newly created database, CPS Lessons, is open and ready to support CPS activity. The screen displayed is what you should see when your new databases has been created.

Next you will create a class of students.

B.The Classes Tab

You can add classes of students to your database from the Classes tab. When you click the Classes tab, the following window appears if there are no previous classes entered. Note the split screen. The left side is the Classes side and the right side is the Students side.

Create a New Class

  1. Click the New icon from the Classes side of the screen (left side). The New Class Wizard appears.
  2. Choose your institution type and click Next.
  3. Fill in the Class Name and any other information you would like to include. Click the Next button.
  1. Click the Next button again to create your class. Click Done to return to the Classes tab. Your new class will be listed on the Classes side (left side) of the screen.

Remember, you can create as many classes as you need. Now that you have created a class name in the database, you will want to add students to that class.

Add Students to a CPS Class

  1. Highlight the class name into which you want to enter the respective students.
  2. Click the New icon under the Students side of the screen (right side).
  3. Type in the information for the first student in the fields at the bottom of the screen.
  4. Click Save or hit the Enter key after you have finished.
  • NOTE: The fields First Name, Last Name, and Pad ID are required, but the others are optional. If you click Save you will have to click theNewicon under the Students side of the screen to enter the next student. If you hit the Enterkey on your keyboard, you can immediately begin typing in the information for the next student.

Follow steps 2 through 4 to enter each additional student.

Class Roster Tips and Suggestions

  • To edit and maintain your classes highlight the respective class name and click the Edit icon and add or change information.
  • To edit and maintain your students in a class, highlight the student’s name and make any changes in the fields at the bottom of the screen. Make sure to click Save when you are done making changes.
  • To delete a class name or a student, highlight the respective item and click the designated Delete icon for either the Classes side or the Students side.

C.The Standards Tab

eInstruction has pre-developed States’ Standards in the CPS software as a part of the installation CD. To install your specific State’s Standards do the following:

InstallState Standards

  1. Place the CPS Install CD into your CD-ROM drive.
  2. When the auto-run feature starts, click the Content button, then the Standards button.
  1. Click Continue through the prompts.
  2. Scroll through the list of states to find your state standards.
  3. Click Continue.
  4. The CPS Install indicates when the install has been completed.
  5. Click Finish.Your state’s standards have been saved as a CPS database in the following file path (unless you selected to have it install to another drive on your computer):C:/eInstruction/CPS_Databases/State_Standards/your state standards.cps

Import Standards into Your CPS Database

  1. Open the Standards tab. Notice the split screen. The Standards side (left side) displays all standards by name, while the Questions side (right side) displays any questions associated with a standard name.
  2. Click the database to which you want to import standards from the left side of the split screen.
  3. Click the Toolsicon.
  4. Select the Import… command from the drop-down list. The Import Wizard appears.
  5. Click the Browse button. An Open dialog box appears.
  6. Use theLook In drop-down list, find the CPS_Databases folder that contains the Standards folder where the state's standards database is saved. For example, the Texas state standards database is named Texas_Standards_TAKS_.cps.
  7. Highlight your state's database name.
  8. Click Open.The state's standards database appears in the Import Wizard window with a (+) box beside it, as well as an empty check box.
  9. Click the (+) box to open up the tree structure under the database.
  10. Click in the checkbox beside each individual standard you want to import. Clicking on the checkbox during importing will include everything beneath that heading in the tree structure.
  1. Click OK once you have chosen your set of standards.

The chosen standards are now imported into your CPS Lesson database and appear on the Standards tab.

D.The Lessons Tab

The Lessons tab is probably where you will begin most of your CPS functions. From this tab, you can

  • Ask verbal questions during your class (instructional tool)
  • Use a FastGrade answer key to accompany existing paper material (assessment tool)
  • Use CPS questions as an instructional tool or as an assessment tool

Ask Verbal Questionsduring your Class

You can use CPS immediately without typing any questions. Use the CPS Verbal Questions function to ask questions during your lecture in coordination with existing questions from the textbook, from your own PowerPoint presentation, from a question database, or from any other non-CPS question source.

  1. Open CPS from your desktop icon and project it onto a screen or TV monitor.
  2. Click the Verbal Questions icon from the Lessons tab. The Verbal Questions Setup window appears. In the Verbal Questions setup window, choose from the following options:
  3. Session Title: type in the title for this verbal session; this should be unique so you can distinguish this data from other CPS sessions.
  4. Session Category:select a session category type from the drop-down list.
  5. Class:choose the class that will take part in this verbal question session.
  • Create Attendance from this Assessment: click the box next to this option so that a checkmark appears. When you engage your lesson and a student responds with his or her response pad, his or her attendance will be marked in the Gradebook.
  • Include Attendance in Gradebook: keep track of student attendance in the Gradebook.
  • Automatically Upload Attendance: upload attendance records to your CPSOnline class. (available for CPSOnline-enabled classes only)
  • MaxPoints: award students present for the session bonus points for their attendance.
  1. Click OK. The Verbal Question toolbar appears in the upper left corner of your screen.