Marielle Pellegrino has two minutes to correctly answer the question displayed on the screen in her physics class.
As the time runs out, she sees students clicking in their responses. Finally, she clicks in her response as well and waits.
Pellegrino, an aerospace engineering sophomore, got the right answer - along with 95 percent of the class.
Pellegrino is just one student who uses the Classroom Response System, more commonly known as "clickers."
Although UF doesn't track the number of clickers in classrooms, the equipment has been at the university for about 10 years, according to Mark McCallister, the associate director at the Office of Academic Technology.
Clickers are most prevalent in lecture classes, and they allow faculty to interact in a way that would otherwise be impossible in a large lecture, McCallister said. For example, faculty can take attendance and conduct quizzes with the equipment.
If teachers choose to use clickers, they can decide which model to require students to buy, McCallister said.
Geography sophomore Vance Harris said he thought clickers were beneficial but didn't like that he had to purchase the equipment himself.
During the past two years, Harris said, he had to buy three different clicker models for three different UF classes.
"I feel buying extra equipment is tedious," Harris said. "It might benefit the learning experience, but it is ridiculous to pay for three different models."
Clickers at the UF Bookstore range from $30 to $50.
Despite the prevalence of clickers on campus, some critics say the equipment makes it easier for students to cheat. For example, students can click in multiple-choice answers for friends who are absent from class.
But McCallister said UF's regular cheating policy also applies for the Classroom Response System.
At UF, students who are caught cheating are referred to the Dean of Students Office, McCallister said.
Since starting the semester, economics freshman Danielle Cooke said she hasn't witnessed cheating in her calculus class, which uses clickers.
"The TA did warn us about cheating at the beginning of the semester," Cooke said. "I have a feeling it will happen at least once or twice during the semester."
Harris took human sexuality and calculus last spring. He noticed people cheating on attendance and quizzes in both classes.
"In human sexuality some people were caught cheating," Harris said, "so they made announcements that TAs were walking around to prevent it."
However, students are allowed to discuss the questions with other students, at least in Pellegrino's class.
"We try to figure out the answer among classmates," Pellegrino said. "The idea is more that you understand it."
