Polling Quickstart

The following 6 points outline everything you need to do to ensure your first polling session goes smoothly. For a step-by-step guide on setting up FLUX for polling, see our Getting Started guide.

1. Create a practice question

In your first session, we recommend trying a practice question like "What do you want to be after you graduate?". It's a good idea to start with just one or two questions per session to get a feel for things. You can then increase your usage as you become more comfortable.

2. Ask your participants to sign in using the join URL (e.g. flux.qa/ABC123) before the session

This can be done via email or your learning management system and will save you time in class. You can also send your participants a link to the Participating in Activities page.

3. Create a slide to explain why you are using FLUX

Consider citing research showing the link between active participation and improved exam scores. For example: "Average examination scores improved by about 6% in active learning sections." [1]

4. Assign marks to attempts if possible

The most effective way to realise the benefits of active learning for participants is to assign marks for thinking about and answering questions. Read our Assigning Marks guide for how to do this most effectively.

5. Create a slide explaining what happens if your participants can't answer

Let participants know they can chat to you after the session if they're unable to answer for any reason. Read our Assigning Marks guide for recommendations on how to handle this.

6. Test-run the whole process before the session

This will allow you to catch any speed bumps in your workflow.

References

[1] Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415. (link)