Article: Learning Technologies

Paul Bourdon's rapid switch to Poll Everywhere


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UVA's Paul Bourdon discusses how Poll Everywhere is being used in various math courses to promote small-group discussion of interesting problems, monitor student understanding, and help students assess their own understanding of course concepts.

I use classroom polling to promote small-group discussion of interesting problems during class, to monitor student understanding, and to help students assess their own understanding.

All introductory calculus courses are flipped this term. Students are required to complete, an hour before their class is to begin, an online “class-prep” assignment. Fairly often classes start with a polling problem designed to help students review terminology and concepts introduced in the class-prep assignment. Results of this polling may prompt instructors to review the basics for the day’s class a bit more or a bit less than they had intended.