Use in-class polling effectively

Here are some ideas of how to implement polling in your teaching: 

Polling as a learning tool

• Vary the question type based on the purpose of the activity
• Utilise word clouds as a visual tool to start a class discussion
• Plan discussion time to respond to polling responses. You may need to adapt your lesson based on the results collected
• Summarise classwide discussions and explain the correct answer afterward
• Encourage students to discuss answers with each other

Polling as an assessment

• Plan your grading system in advance. Make sure it aligns with your unit learning outcomes
• Give students the chance to get familiar with the polling tool before using it as an assessment tool
• Make scores accessible on a regular basis to reduce student anxiety
• Check with colleagues if a library of poll questions exists. If not, consider building a shared library of poll questions
• Be willing to throw out or regrade a question that contains an error or is unclear

General Tips

• Be aware that your first use of in-class polling will require time to prepare good questions
• Know why you are using in-class polling, and keep this in mind while writing questions
• Choose a polling tool that has the required functionality and one that you are confident with
• Set up the system before class and practise
• Use the same polling tool throughout your teaching so that students become familiar with the technology
• Explain to students why you are using the system and what you expect students to gain from the experience
• Spend some time training students to use in-class polling
• Keep a positive attitude, and be willing to make a few mistakes as you learn

Polling questions can take a number of different forms, for example Multiple choice, Word clouds and ordered rankings. The only “rule” for question design is that each question's structure and content reflect specific learning goals. Questions can even be designed without a “right” answer in order to encourage debate and discussion.

Effective poll questions should address a specific learning goal, content goal, or skill. This could include presenting a new concept and linking it to prior learning, showing an example of a new concept, or applying a mastered concept to a new situation.

Questions should be designed based on the pedagogical purpose, which may include:

• building class community through an icebreaker
• assessing students' background, knowledge, or beliefs
• making students aware of others' views or of their own
• identifying misconceptions and confusion
• distinguishing between related ideas
• showing parallels or connections between ideas
• exploring or applying ideas in a new context.

Qualitative questions that avoid calculations, memorization, or facts are recommended as these allow the student to focus on the concept without becoming distracted by details.

Designing questions that produce a wide set of responses, including incorrect answers or common misconceptions which can then be explored can also steer students toward deeper understanding of concepts. To construct such questions, it is helpful to:

• identify student misconceptions and include them as answers, plausibly phrased
• listen to students to find out how they think, and pay particular attention to wrong answers
• include answers that contain common errors.

Design of questions

A variety of question styles is usually best. Here are some suggestions of question structure to apply to your polling questions.

• give a term or concept, and have students identify the correct definition from a list, and vice versa
• give a graph to match with the best description or interpretation, and vice versa
• match a method of analysis with an appropriate data set, and vice versa
• link the general to the specific
• provide questions that students cannot answer, to motivate discussion and curiosity before introducing a new topic
• require sequencing of ideas or steps
• identify incorrect steps or statements
• apply a familiar idea to a new context.

Other recommendations

• limit the number of answers to five or less, so that question is easy to read and consider
• assess knowledge of jargon separately from concepts to ensure that each is addressed clearly and effectively
• create wrong answers (distractors) that seem logical or plausible to prevent “strategising” students from easily eliminating wrong answers
• include “I don't know” as an answer choice to prevent guessing
• plan to ask some questions twice to allow peer learning and build emotional investment. (Allow students to answer individually, but do not display the correct answer; then direct students to discuss the question with their peers and answer again.)

For additional tips on writing questions and question types, see How to write questions for assessment tasks.

In-class polling enables simple and easy one-to-many dialogue and can enhance students' active learning, participation, and improve learning outcomes especially in large classes or classes taught in online or hybrid modes. There are two recommended approaches:

• Classwide discussion method: Begin with a question, proceed immediately to small-group discussion to answer it, followed by full-class discussion.
• Peer-learning model: Students are required to think and answer independently first, see the answers, and then spend time in groups struggling to reach a consensus answer.

Some data indicate that the latter method works better in larger classes, because individual answers force stronger engagement, and the class discussion portion in classwide may introduce too much confusion, unless the question asked is very difficult. A combination of the two methods by an observant instructor may be best (Caldwell, 2007).