Classroom Voting Patterns in Differential Calculus

Abstract

We study how different sections voted on the same set of classroom voting questions in differential calculus, finding that voting patterns can be used to identify some of the questions that have the most pedagogic value. We use statistics to identify three types of especially useful questions: 1. To identify good discussion questions, we look for those that produce the greatest diversity of responses, indicating that several answers are regularly plausible to students. 2. We identify questions that consistently provoke a common misconception, causing a majority of students to vote for one particular incorrect answer. When this is revealed to the students, they are usually quite surprised that the majority is wrong, and they are very curious to learn what they missed, resulting in a powerfully teachable moment. 3. By looking for questions where the percentage of correct votes varies the most between classes, we can find checkpoint questions that provide effective formative assessment as to whether a class has mastered a particular concept.

Keywords:

• Calculus
• classroom voting
• peer instruction

Acknowledgments

This article is based on work supported by National Science Foundation Grants DUE 0536077 and 0836775. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.