(Approved by the Curriculum Committee on July 26, 2011)
Audience response system overview
An audience response system is an interactive technology that enables instructors to engage and interact with students through an audience polling system. Audience response systems are most beneficial for increasing engagement and managing interaction, and providing students with formative learning opportunities and self-assessment. They are also useful in providing faculty with real-time feedback about how students respond to and understand content that is presented during the teaching event.
Audience response systems can be used in local and videoconferenced learning events in lecture theatres at all program campus locations (IMP, SMP, VFMP and SMP). The system is currently unavailable in clinical sites. When using the audience response system in a videoconferenced learning event, student poll results are tabulated from all videoconferenced lecture theaters in real time, and poll results are not differentiated by program site. Similarly, the data will not be differentiated by faculty (Medicine or Dentistry).
Optional use of audience response systems
The Faculty of Medicine now has the capability to offer audience response systems for faculty wishing to use these at academic sites in lecture theatres. Faculty members are offered the option to use the audience response system and can elect to do so by notifying their Program Manager.
Intended use of audience response systems
The primary purpose of audience response systems is to:
- Increase student engagement/ participation during teaching sessions
- Provide students with opportunities for formative self-assessment
- Provide faculty with real-time feedback about how students understand content
The secondary use of audience response systems which requires special consideration and planning is:
- Administering marks given for participation*
- Summative assessment*
- Surveys or evaluations**
*Student anonymity and clicker registration
Students are not required to register their device to their student number and all polling is anonymous. Courses or Programs who wish to use the audience response system for administering participation marks or for summative assessment need to consult and contact the Assessment Unit.
**Use of audience response systems for surveys and evaluations
Audience response systems are meant to be used as an engaging educational technology to stimulate interactivity and reflexive learning during teaching events. If faculty would like to use the audience response system to evaluate pilots or program components, please contact the Evaluation Studies Unit.
Appropriate use of audience response system data
After each teaching event in which an instructor uses the audience response system, the instructor will be provided with a summary report which shows aggregate data of how students performed on each question. This data can be used for identifying concepts which require emphasis or clarification in future teaching events and general quality improvement.
Data collected from student polling using the audience response system should not be used for research unless proper permissions are granted prior to their use through the Behavioural Research Ethics Board and the Research Access Committee. If data is being used to conduct research, students must be informed that their participation is voluntary and will not affect their academic status. If students choose to participate, they are giving consent for their responses to be used for research purposes. See the Behavioural Research Ethics Board and the Research Access Committee for more information.
Storage of data
The data recorded will be kept by MedIT for fourteen days, after which they will be erased.