Audience response Systeme

• At the beginning of a lecture, the teacher uses an ARS tool to ask MC questions designed to activate the students' prior knowledge of an upcoming topic. At the same time, the teacher can better assess the students' level of knowledge and adjust the level of difficulty accordingly.
• After a brief technical input, the teacher uses the ARS to ask questions about the subject matter explained. They switch from a mediation phase to an interaction phase. In doing so, they test the students' understanding and make their level of learning visible. It should be noted that a pure knowledge test directly after the content has been taught can lead to a misjudgement, as it is not long-term but temporary working memory content that is being tested.

• As part of a seminar, students can vote on which elective topic they would like to deal with in the second part of the course. This allows them to actively influence the course schedule.
• A teacher uses an ARS tool to ask students whether they would like to repeat a particular topic. In this way, she not only addresses the learning needs of her students, but also consciously slows down the pace of her course.

• During a lecture, the teacher invites their students to give them continuous feedback on the pace of the lecture ("too slow" / "too fast") and the comprehensibility of their explanations ("I didn't understand"). She uses an ARS tool with a live feedback system for this purpose.
• At the start of a joint face-to-face seminar as part of a blended learning event, a teacher uses ARS questions to get an impression of the mood of a previous asynchronous self-study phase. They ask the students how they felt during the self-directed learning time. Depending on the students' answers, they may offer additional support.

The Think-Pair-Share method can be used so that students not only deal with an ARS question individually, but also benefit from a collaborative exchange about it.

Procedure:

Using an ARS tool, you as the teacher ask the students a thematically relevant question. Now the think phase begins, in which the students individually collect their thoughts on the solution to the question. In the subsequent pair phase, the students come together in pairs and exchange their thoughts and solutions. They discuss their thoughts and try to agree on a common answer. Finally, in the share phase, all students submit an answer using the ARS tool.

You can then present statistics on the answer behavior and the correct solution and evaluate them in plenary. It is also a good idea to have the students reflect on the solution-finding process. Additional information on the method can be found in the method profile of Bielefeld University.

Originally developed by Prof. Eric Mazur of Harvard University, the peer instruction method is intended to reveal and eliminate difficulties in understanding by encouraging students to actively reflect on the subject matter and their own knowledge (Mazur, 1997).

Procedure:

After a technical input, you as the teacher ask your students a question about the previously covered topic using an ARS tool. Depending on the number of correct answers, you continue the course in different ways:

• If less than 30% of the learners have answered the question correctly, you should repeat the content in an adapted way and use other explanatory approaches. If you get more than 70% correct answers, you can continue with your course content or follow up with the next ARS question.
• If 30% to 70% of your students know the correct answer to the question you have asked, a peer discussion follows. Here, the students talk in pairs about the answers they have given, justifying and questioning them in front of each other. All students then vote again on the original question using the ARS tool.

This method is suitable for both seminars and lectures with a large number of students.

Additional information can be found in the Leipzig University method sheet.

There are some important design aspects to consider, especially when preparing MC tasks for ARS use. The University of Bremen provides helpful tips for creating multiple-choice tasks that relate to the content, formatting, style, question stem and answer alternatives of the questions.

If you are planning to have your students generate ARS tasks rather than creating them yourself, then the 360° ARS approach could be a possible implementation idea for you.

You should allow sufficient time both for the preparation of the ARS questions and for the implementation of an ARS-supported assessment. It is advisable to allow a time buffer for the use of ARS during the detailed planning of your course. In order to keep the preparation effort reasonable and to ensure a didactically sensible selection of questions, you should check whether your questions contribute to covering the learning objectives of your course. If necessary, reduce the number of questions by comparing your content with the learning objectives.

When selecting a suitable ARS tool, pay attention to the applicable GDPR guidelines. Please refer to the information on data protection listed in the tool profiles. TU Dresden also offers two possible ARS that you can use for your teaching without hesitation(TUD.vote, AMCS ) .