Polling

A quick classroom poll can allow students to self-assess their own understanding and can allow the instructor and learning assistant to quickly assess class knowledge. That is, polls are a great example of a Classroom Assessment Technique (CAT)! (Angelo & Cross, 1993)

Polls can be accomplished with a variety of technologies, ranging from a use of fingers, to paper to cell phones.

•Students can weigh in on a multiple choice question using one finger for A, two for B and so on. A single piece of paper can be divided into four quadrants and labeled A, B, C and D. The CAPER Center for Astronomy and Physics shows an example of an ABCD Card and other polling technologies.

•Cell phone polls can be accomplished using the Poll Everywhere software as well as many classroom response systems.

In this 10-minute vodcast, Dr. Danny Dale and Rachel talk about polling:
 


References and Resources

Angelo and Cross (1993) Classroom Assessment Techniques. 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass