Enhancing lectures through electronic voting systems

1. Enhancing lectures through electronic voting systems Susanne Krauß DAAD-Lektorin S.Krauss@kent.ac.uk Canterbury, 26.05.2009

2. Outline • Definition • Using EVS in lectures • Teaching method: lecture • Uses for and pedagogical benefits of EVS • Challenges • How I used Turning Point • Summary and outlook

3. Definition • Electronic voting system • Example: “Who wants to be a millionaire?” • EVS – electronic voting system • GRS – group response system • ARS – audience response system • SRS – student response system • CRS – classroom response system

4. Using EVS in lectures

5. 0 of 50 Answer Now What is your job title? • Administrative staff • Educational support staff • Management staff • Research staff • Teaching staff • Other

6. 0 of 50 Answer Now Do you give lectures? • Yes • No

7. Answer Now Name the three most important aids/tools you need or would like to have when listening to a lecture. • No aids • Take notes • Visualization (ppt, maps, charts, …) • Lecturer’s notes afterwards • Notes/material beforehand • A recording of the lecture afterwards • Oral discussion(s) during the lecture • Written discussion(s) afterwards • Other

8. 0 of 50 Answer Now Which aids/tools do you use in your lecture? • PowerPoint during the lecture • Notes on OHP • Notes on the Whiteboard • Notes/slides on WebCT or Moodle • Recordings on WebCT or Moodle • Material/handbooks beforehand • Other

9. 0 of 50 Answer Now Are you likely to approach and adopt new technology with confidence into your teaching? • Strongly Agree • Agree • Neutral • Disagree • Strongly Disagree

10. Teaching Method: lectures • Transmitting knowledge: one to many • Teacher-centred • Student: passive role • Questions: • Learning styles? • Interactivity?

11. Teaching Method: lectures • Laurillard’s conversational model: (Cutts et al. 1)

12. Uses for and pedagogical benefits of EVS • assessment • formative feedback on learning • formative feedback to the teacher • peer assessment • community mutual awareness building • experiments using human responses • initiate a discussion (Draper)

13. Uses for and pedagogical benefits of EVS • Advantages • Activation through anonymity • “digestible” chunks • “construct meaning rather than merely memorise facts” (Bates 3) • Immediate feedback • Motivational

14. Challenges • New or amended lecture layout (cf. Simpson & Oliver 20) • Takes up time from the lecture (cf. Bates et al. 7; Simpson & Oliver 20) • Question design • “In a good multiple choice question, each response option would relate to a common student understanding or misunderstanding of the material.” (Cutts et al. 3)

15. How I used Turning Point

16. Setting • GE301/516 cultural studies lecture • Post-A level, mostly 1st year students • Held in German • 1 contact hour per week • Lecture slides (without TP questions) and a movie of the slides with an audio commentary were available on WebCT afterwards

17. Attendance in 2007/2008(no EVS) 82% (avg) Attendance in 2008/2009(EVS) 73.6% (avg) Setting “… the instructional design mostly isn’t in the equipment or software, but in how each teacher uses it.” (Draper)

18. Usage • Quick and easy to use • Does not require prior technological knowledge on the students’ behalf • Trial run is nonetheless recommended

19. Usage • Most often used to test the understanding • In 13 out of 15 lectures • Min. of 4, max. of 7 questions per lecture • Content: covered material, understanding of video clips • Used for surveys and polls • In 6 lectures • Content: feedback on the lecture style, asking for students’ opinions etc. • Used for the end of term evaluation

20. Did you find the integration of Turning Point useful?

21. Summary and outlook

22. Summary • Positive experience • No experience of a “time-loss” due to the polling • Designing questions can be challenging • Generally, a positive student reaction

23. Outlook • Pedagogical benefit for the learning process • Checking understanding (esp. with non-native speakers) • Monitoring students’ approach to learning • Tendency to memorise facts rather than constructing concepts and establishing relations • Help to improve note-taking strategies?

24. Thank you very much for your attention!