Polling

“Polling” describes questions that students answer during class with their phones (or other digital devices). Anonymously polling is a great way to: 

  • Receive real-time feedback about what students think they know about a topic, or how well the class is understanding the course content.
  • Find out—and potentially share with the class in real time—where students’ opinions may fall on a debatable issue, in order to encourage meaningful discussion.

This technique can be used in any type of class, but can be especially useful in large-enrollment classes.

Polling For Comprehension of Course Content

Polling questions can focus on students’ conceptual understanding of course content. Good polling questions tend to be:

  • True / False
  • Multiple Choice
  • Fill-In-The-Blank

When you ask polling questions depends on your learning objectives:

  • Polling BEFORE a lesson can help identify assumptions or gaps in knowledge about course content. It can also enhance student “buy-in” to a lesson, because they have been shown that they don’t fully understand a concept. It can also lead to engaging discussions
  • Polling AFTER a lesson can help check for comprehension, allow students to ask questions, and show instructors where more background information or review might be needed.

Polling to Encourage Open Dialogue

Students may assume that their peers share their viewpoints on debatable or difficult topics. This often mistaken assumption can lead to self-censorship and limit instructors’ ability to foster open classroom conversations. Sharing the results of anonymous polling at the beginning of a class on a controversial topic can help give students a more accurate understanding of the range of views in the room. Using polling results can normalize engaging with perspectives that lie outside the mainstream. Alternatively, if there is in fact a narrow range of viewpoints in a class, instructors can press students to question this consensus and explore other perspectives. 

Polling Logistics:

Academic Technology for the FAS has Resources on Polling Software. Each of the types of polling technology supported by Academic Technology for the FAS can be uniquely coded to individual students, such that you can track a particular student’s answers throughout a semester.