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First Day of Class: Engage your Students with Poll Everywhere!

You walk into your class full of new faces ready to learn. What do they want to know about the subject? What do they already know? What are they excited about?

One simple way to determine students' prior knowledge of the subject, and simultaneously get them talking to each other, is by using Poll Everywhere.

Poll Everywhere is a simple web-based polling application that increases student engagement. Polls can be multiple-choice, open-ended, or even a clickable image. Students can respond via text message, a web page, or Twitter. Responses can be displayed in real time, on the web, or in a PowerPoint presentation.

Don't Explain What Students Already Know

Do you want to learn what your students already know about the subject?

Try this approach: develop 5 - 7 core questions to gauge the breadth and depth of their knowledge and ask them at the beginning of class using Poll Everywhere. You might decide to do it a few times during the course of the semester or on a weekly basis to check student understanding of the course readings and their preparedness for class. You can then spend just a few minutes in class clarifying misconceptions. Students can check their knowledge as they learn – before a high-stakes exam or major project.

Bryan Gibb, in the College of Arts and Sciences, uses Poll Everywhere extensively in his courses. He asks multiple choice or short answer questions at the beginning of class to test students' understanding of important concepts, before beginning that day's new material.

Frequent Feedback Enhances Learning

When students "know what they don't know," they can focus on the material that challenges them. Poll Everywhere makes it easy to give students that information.

Anand Santhanakrishnan, in the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, uses Poll Everywhere for class quizzes on a regular basis to engage students in on-the-fly problem solving. For example, he has them solve mathematical equations in the questions, as an example of problems they might find on the exams.

Give Every Student A Voice

Some students are more inclined to contribute to a discussion and voice their opinion; others might be more reserved, or need more time to think before speaking up.

Try this approach: ask your students a question, and let their responses drive your presentation of new material. If each student turns to a neighbor to have a three-minute conversation, then every student is engaged in a discussion. When you ask for a volunteer to summarize their conversation, quieter students are more likely to speak up, since they have had the opportunity to rehearse their ideas.

Spencer Turkel, in the College of Arts and Sciences, uses Poll Everywhere to check for student understanding of the course readings and engage them in a reflective dialogue. After students respond to a poll, he asks them to explain their choices.

Creating a safe learning environment where student voices are heard can motivate students to take responsibility for their own learning. Students become more invested in the course when they have the opportunity to ask questions.

Kelly Lavin, in the School of Health Professions, uses Poll Everywhere at the end of each class. She asks the following two questions: 1) What was the most important thing you learned today? 2) What questions remain unanswered? Kelly shares: "90% of the time I started the next class by reinforcing what they learned from the week before and answering the listed questions; however, on a few occasions I actually answered their questions through Blackboard because I thought that it would be better for them to have the information sooner rather than wait the week."

How do I get started?

There is no need for you to bring anything to class. Create the questions in your Poll Everywhere account, go to class, open a web browser, display your polls, and students can use their smartphones or dumb phones, a tablet, or a laptop to respond and participate on the fly. Beforehand, make sure that you set up your class to participate so you can track student responses. Then, the first time you use it in class, you may want to give your students some instructions to get set up. You can immediately see student responses, start a class discussion, engage every student, and even grade student responses.

Interested in learning more?

Visit www.nyit.edu/ctl/polleverywhere, stop by the Center for Teaching and Learning, or contact us to set up a one-on-one session in person or on Zoom. Let us know if you'd like in-class assistance the first time you try it out!

Resources:

Contributor:
Olena Zhadko, PhD
Manager, Course Development
Center for Teaching and Learning