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UNC-CH Poll Everywhere Pilot
- 1. UNC-CH Pilot Suzanne Cadwell ITS-Teaching &Learning The Center for Faculty Excellence cadwell@unc.edu @scadwell
- 2. Session overview 1. Akick-off poll 2. Fall 2009 and one pioneering professor 3. Spring 2010 pilot and survey results 4. Instructor response to date 5. Looking ahead
- 3. Overview at delivr.com/11y7t How PollEverywhere works 1. Create questions in browser 2. Deliver in browser or PPT/Keynote 3. Answer with • text (22333) • tweet (@poll) • web (poll4.com)
- 4. Get ready topoll!
- 5. Pioneering Professor Pukkila Heardelsewhere about Poll Everywhere Asking open-ended questions to facilitate class discussion and peer-learning activities Teaching 200-student course in Genetics No wireless access in classroom http://www.bio.unc.edu/faculty/pukkila
- 6. Would CFE fund? $399for a semester license for one faculty member with up to 400 students. Any no-cost alternatives?
- 7. Twitter Too cumbersome for trackingindividual students in a large class.
- 8. Fall 2010 results Studentsreported in course evaluation that they were more likely to prepare for class and to engage in class discussion. Colleagues in Biology interested in trying Poll Everywhere in Spring 2010.
- 9. Spring 2010 pilot CFEpurchased 5-instructor (pilot) license Asked Chair of Biology Department to send an announcement to faculty Enthusiastic and immediate response Found current clicker system limiting Interested in a solution that didn’t require purchase of “specialist devices”
- 10. Courses, instructors, rooms Fivecourses total, ~200 students each One section of BIOL 201, Ecology & Evolution All three sections of BIOL 202, Molecular Biology and Genetics One section of BIOL 252, Anatomy & Physiology Two instructors had used clickers; three had not. All classrooms had wireless access.
- 11. Student surveys Reused questionset that had been developed for Fall 2010 class Added questions about device used, text plans for phones, and whether students had purchased clickers for (an)other class(es)
- 12. Student surveys 520 of1020 students enrolled Paper, administered during class for four courses; online for fifth course. Response rate for paper was more than double that of online.
- 13. What type oftext plan does your cell phone have? I have an unlimited plan. 73% My plan is limited to a certain 19% number of texts sent/received. I pay for each text that I send 5% or receive. I don’t have a cell phone. <1%
- 14. What device doyou use most often to answer Poll Everywhere questions? Cell phone, using text message 78% Laptop or netbook 22% Cell phone, using web browser 0% Other mobile device that is not a <1% phone or a laptop or netbook (iPod Touch, PSP2)
- 15. Why did youdecide to use this device? Circle all that apply. a) Using it doesn’t cost me any extra money. b) I carry it with me anyway. c) It’s lightweight. d) Entering answers on smaller devices is awkward or slows me down. e) Other reason(s), please specify:
- 16. Why did youdecide to use this device? Circle all that apply. a) Using it doesn’t cost me any extra money. Laptop 39% (44) Text 49% (199) b) I carry it with me anyway. Laptop 66% (75) Text 93% (378)
- 17. Why did youdecide to use this device? Circle all that apply. c) It’s lightweight. Laptop 6% (7) Text 46% (187) d) Entering answers on smaller devices is awkward or slows me down. Laptop 25% (29) Text 1% (4)
- 18. Why did youdecide to use this device? Circle all that apply. e) Other reason(s), please specify: “Cell wouldn’t work.” For many students, laptops seemed to be Plan B.
- 19. When you didn’trespond to poll questions, what were the reasons? Not enough time 19% To read question, formulate answer and submit, esp. open text answers. Technical difficulty 16% Account registration and connectivity issues. Entering incorrect keyword. Not being graded 8% Limited text plan 4% Difficult to bring laptop 4%
- 20. Should this coursecontinue to use Poll Everywhere in future semesters? Yes, as is 77% Yes, with changes 15% No 8% Changes suggested were mainly pedagogical, with a few echoes of technical and logistical issues Liked not having to buy/use a clicker (unclear to what extent because cost was subsidized or didn’t have to manage another device)
- 21. Have you hadto purchase a clicker for other classes that you have taken? Yes 32% No 66% Not a good data point for comparison. Students had paid for clickers but not for Poll Everywhere.
- 22. Faculty response todate Most instructors are continuing to use Poll Everywhere. One instructor who had used clickers previously has decided to return to using them. Another instructor has decided to use clickers in one course and Poll Everywhere in another…
- 23. The problem ofgrading “Managing a spreadsheet after being spoiled by iClicker and eInstruction gradebooks is so 1990's. :)” In 200-student course, clickers for quizzing. In 400-student course, Poll Everywhere points as extra credit on exam.
- 24. What can weconclude? Laptops remain a significant secondary device for students. If instructors have already used clickers with large-enrollment classes, they may find Poll Everywhere does not equivalently support graded quizzing.
- 25. Pilot will continue ThroughSpring 2011, perhaps beyond Faculty have greater willingness to experiment with response system as a learning tool: open text, existing devices, CFE sponsorship Support issues no greater than with clickers, but existing classroom and network infrastructure affect connectivity
- 26. Current higher edpricing
- 27. Current higher edpricing deliver.com/11y6z
- 28.
Editor's Notes
- #5 Press F5 or enter presentation mode to view the poll In an emergency during your presentation, if the poll isn't showing, navigate to this link in your web browser: http://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/LTIwODE1NDkyOTg If you like, you can use this slide as a template for your own voting slides. You might use a slide like this if you feel your audience would benefit from the picture showing a text message on a phone.
- #6 I was excited by faculty interest. Biology Dept was the largest group of clicker users, with 3 instructors who had used them regularly. My interest in an SMS option had been piqued for several years. 200-student course. Worth noting that free higher ed accounts are available for up to 32 poll responses = meaning 32 students. If students had had wireless access, there would have been a wider array of options. SMS polling was needed.
- #8 We do have at least one faculty member who has used Twitter as a response system—but for groups of students.
- #9 Interested after a departmental meeting. You’ll recall that the classroom had no wireless access. Prof. Pukkila was asking colleagues if they objected to having wireless access points installed. During course of explanation, she described using Poll Everywhere.
- #12 Administered during classtime
- #14 Two students said in comments that they didn’t want to have to pay extra for text messages.
- #15 One course had a much higher percentage of students using cell phones. I thought that the instructor might have encouraged her students to use cell phones over laptops; however, the instructor attributed this difference a practice that her colleagues do not share. The instructor provides students notes outlines/worksheets online. Students print these out to bring to class to complete. Students would then less likely to use laptops given the limited surface space provided by classroom furniture.
- #18 Laptop—that’s about 30 students
- #19 That provider’s signal, text plan settings, or carrier and short codes. Honestly, we didn’t worry about the details, since we had laptops as a plan B.
- #20 Several students reported that they simply stopped answering them. Two students stated that they didn’t want to pay for texts. (Of course, if they didn’t have to purchase devices, texting would still be cheaper.)
- #21 At least equivalent to the course evaluations I’ve seen in courses using clickers, perhaps more positive, but would need to standardize answer options – usually a likert scale. Post questions for review May not have been aware that they can review their response history; however, PE doesn’t include a way to mark correct answers. Free text answers Ask fewer of them, difficult to answer in time constraints. Let students use free text to pose questions to instructor.
- #22 Significant number of students who were not first-year students. Probably reflects more that clickers were used in earlier Biology classes. Is there a significant difference between how students who had used clickers answers some questions than students who did not? Didn’t think of this point of comparison until preparing for this session. Need to reanalyze the data. i.e., should course continue to use Poll Everywhere. But perhaps all that really would yield is that respons
- #23 That is, if they plan on using a response system, period. Of course, CFE is funding license.
- #24 The same issue that was a certainly concern with Twitter still looms large for some instructors. Directly tied to this is transmission reliability, although this hasn’t been a concern that instructors have explicitly mentioned as a reason to use a dedicated response system. One of the instructors who has switched back has mentioned that she will miss the ability to ask open-ended questions and has suggested that she might use Twitter for this purpose.
- #25 22% of students opted to use them most of the time. Having a laptop requirement is at the very least an important comfort factor for faculty and students.
- #26 More likely to try it if we buy it. Two additional faculty using it this semester have College or Departmental grant funds that they are applying.