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:
