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Real-Time Polling Technology in a Public Opinion Course

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2006

Cindy D. Kam  and
Barbara Sommer
Cindy D. Kam
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Barbara Sommer
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
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Extract

Many instructors face challenges in engaging students in lecture courses. In the fall of 2004, we incorporated innovative, real-time polling technology into an upper-division political science course on Public Opinion. The polling technology channeled students' technological savvy in the service of several pedagogical goals. The technology increased student engagement and reinforced the substance of the course material. It also provided students with topically relevant experiences in answering survey questions and allowed students to feel more comfortable in expressing their opinions during discussions.We thank Victoria Cross, James Fowler, Ethan Scheiner, Walter Stone, and Elizabeth Zechmeister for helpful suggestions. Funding for the technology was generously provided by the Undergraduate Instructional Improvement Program, supported by the vice provost–undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis.

Type
THE TEACHER
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 113 - 117
Copyright
© 2006 The American Political Science Association

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