2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Top Hat is one of many services that enable instructors to poll students with questions; students provide answers via their cell phones, and the instructor can display the class’s responses for everyone to see. Typically these questions are technical / educational in nature, e.g. conceptual quizzes. However, the author has recently researched the use of Top Hat toward improving the student-teacher relationship through asking questions unrelated to coursework, specifically trivia questions about the instructor’s personal life (e.g. the music or games they enjoy). It was found in previous work that students were delighted by these questions and appreciated the opportunity to get to better know their instructor.

In the past academic year the author tried an additional approach where students were polled with questions on things they (rather than the instructor) enjoy, etc. with a goal of students getting to better know each other and build community based on their shared responses. Examples of the questions presented to the students and tips for faculty interested in applying the practice will be communicated as part of this work. Also, student perspectives on this practice will be examined via a brief qualitative investigation using thematic analysis of responses to end-of-the-semester course evaluations; specifically, students will be asked to provide their perspectives on their enjoyment of the practice, whether they would like it incorporated in future courses, and whether they enjoy questions related to them and their fellow students more than trivia questions about the instructor.