5 Reasons to use in-class polling
Updated Mar 7, 2023
I just added active learning strategies shared by Poll Everywhere. Some of these strategies can be leveraged with in-class polling tools. Check out the top link in the Further Reading section. Happy tinkering!
After delivering a point, you ask the audience if there are any questions. At this point you are met with silence as you attempt to count your 8-seconds of awkward silence before moving on. I’ve been there, too.
With 2+ years of being on Zoom, I’ve noticed chat comments and questions fly in as someone is speaking, and sometimes they come in after the topic has been shared--some people need time to reflect on what they might want to say.
In-class polling offers the same opportunities as it invites all students to practice, visualize, and receive feedback on their learning. It also gives us a better sense to see how students are engaging with their learning!
You can also pair in-class polling with think-pair-share exercises to allow students to engage in peer instruction. One of my favorite activities is to poll the whole class with a question, but not share the results. Then, I ask the students to engage in a quick discussion with their neighbor. Afterwards, I poll the students with the same question and ask “who changed their responses from the first time around and what has changed?”
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at Columbia University in the City of New York created this table to help visualize Poll Everywhere question types and when to use them based on how students should respond. Certain poll types may be available in other polling software such as Mentimeter, iClicker, OPT, but this gives you a good starting point. (See the CTL’s Developing Poll Questions to Engage and Assess Student Thinking in Science and Engineering Courses link in the Additional Resources section below for more information).
For low-stakes, “practice” questions you can ask icebreaker questions, like how students are feeling on a scale of cat. This allows students to get comfortable using the tool, as well as a quick wellness check.
Maybe you’re just looking for a quick response that doesn’t require a software or tool, you can also survey students by asking “Show of raised hands” or “thumbs up/down.”
Looking for tools to try out? CAT created a comparison chart of the polling tools we’ve tried. And here are our 5 reasons to use in-class polling.
Further Reading and Additional Resources on In-Class Polling
“10 active learning strategies”, from Poll Everwhere
Poll Everywhere share 7 active learning strategies, but only references the use of Poll Everywhere in a few of these strategies. With a bit of creative thinking, I think most of these strategies can leverage the use of in-class polling tools (you can totally use in-class polling tools in a Gallery Walk activity).
“Inclusive Teaching: 5 ways to support all students in the college classroom” from Poll Everywhere
A blog post that shares 5 opportunities to support introverted and extroverted students in the classroom.
“The Only List of Icebreaker Questions You’ll Every Need,” from Museum Hack
A list of icebreaker questions broken up by meeting type, interest, and so on.
“32 Fun Zoom Icebreakers You Should Definitely Try In 2022,” from Vantage Circle
A list of icebreaker questions that work well in Zoom meetings. Some of these icebreakers require considerable engagement, so use them sparingly or if you’re looking for opportunities to take a break.
“Developing Poll Questions to Engage and Assess Student Thinking in Science and Engineering Courses,” from The Center of Teaching and Learning at Columbia University in New York City
Scroll down to the “4. Create” section in this guide to learn more about when to use different types of polling questions, that is referred to in this post above. This guide also provides step-by-step considerations when creating higher order polling questions.
“The effect of feedback on metacognition - A randomized experiment using polling technology,” by Francois Molin, Carla Haelermans, Sofie Cabus, and Wim Groot (2020)
Authors of this study share that combining formative assessments using polling and peer discussions, along with teaching feedback, have the potential to engage students in deeper learning and developing metacognitive skills.