Using SMS to increase interaction withstudents during lectures

Who? Adrian Rollin

From? Department of Statistics and Applied Probability, NUS

When? BuzzEd, 5th January 2012

questionSMS

What is questionSMS?

How does it work?

How do I use it?

Why do I use it?

Some - Assistant Professor

background - Class size from 80-200

- 3rd and 4th year students

- Maths and Stats students are not very interactive

questionSMS

What is questionSMS?

How does it work?

How do I use it?

Why do I use it?

Some - Assistant Professor

background - Class size from 80-200

- 3rd and 4th year students

- Maths and Stats students are not very interactive

What is questionSMS?

.

In class, answers are anonymous.

What is questionSMS?

.

In class, answers are anonymous.

What is questionSMS?

.

What is questionSMS?

.

How does it work?

Let’s do it! - Free Text Question

- Multiple Choice Poll

How do I use it?

- One qSMS question “General questions” is always

open with a standard code (via iPad)

- Polls for quizes to test the students intuition

- Polls for quizes to test the material at the end of a

lecture

- Polls to ask general questions about the lecture

(e.g. “too fast”, “just right”, “too slow”)

Why do I use it?

Some reasons - Increases interaction, more questions

I use qSMS - Allows for immediate feedback (c.f. raising hands)

- Changes style and pace from time to time

- Very easy to use, may actually reduce the workload

- It’s developed at NUS and my feedback does not end

up in the dust bin

Why do I use it?

Some points - Feedback is not representative!

to think about - Depends on the class whether it’s fun to use

- Needs a critical mass to work, otherwise it’s not really

anonymous

- The reception can be bad in some of the lecture

theatres (e.g. LT21)

Thanks for listening!