Savvy Strategies Real-Time Assessment Tool
Assessment is a vital tool of teaching. It tells the instructor many different things about the students including if they are understanding the material, making connections between topics, and mastering the content at a deeper level. In a world of instant gratification and the ability to look up information easily and quickly, how can you, as the instructor, get more immediate feedback rather than waiting for the results from the assessment at the end of the testing block or two-week instructional block? Results from a source of formative feedback will help you to tailor your instruction to fit the needs of the class. This can be done in several ways: a “thumbs up/thumbs down” approach where you gauge the class’s level of comfort with the material; looking for the ‘deer in the headlight’ look (if you see this look, you better start pumping the brakes!); or even through a poll.
An easy way to issue a poll to the students is through a program called Poll Everywhere. This is a program that the School of Medicine has purchased that is available to anyone who teaches one of our courses or sessions. Poll Everywhere is a web-based program that has a PowerPoint add-on tool that allows you to easily incorporate questions into your PowerPoint that will give you immediate feedback on the content being taught. There are many varieties of questions – open-ended, multiple choice, survey, clickable image, and word cloud just to name a few.
Our pre-clinical students are well-versed in the use of this program and enjoy being able to use it. The program encourages student engagement throughout the session. Based on the answers that are given, you are able to make real-time connections and clarify content more quickly than waiting for the summative assessment results.
We have had some great utilization of this program in several areas – anatomy, biostatistics, and epidemiology to name a few. I would be glad to help you utilize this program in your sessions also! Please email me at bricker@umc.edu to let me know if you would like to explore this program more fully or if you have any questions regarding your current use of Poll Everywhere.