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Using EVS at Glasgow University c.2005

This page is about the use of EVS (electronic voting systems) in lectures at Glasgow University. It was written a few years ago, and assumes the use of the old IR equipment; though most of the rest of the advice is still reasonable. More up to date advice about use of the current equipment here.

Questions and answers (click to jump to a section)

• Brief introduction
• Why would you want to use EVS in your lectures?
• Want to see them in action?
• What's involved at the moment of use?
• What's involved at the lecture?
• Introducing a new audience to the EVS
• Presenting a question to the audience
• What preparation is required by the lecturer?
• Equipment?
• Human resources
• What has experience shown can go wrong?

Brief introduction

To date, student response, and lecturers' perceptions of that, have been almost entirely favourable in an expanding range of trials here at the University of Glasgow (to say nothing of those elsewhere) already involving students in levels 1,2,3 and 4, and diverse subjects (psychology, medicine, philosophy, computer science, ...), and in sequences from one-off to every lecture for a term.

The equipment is mobile, and so can be used anywhere with a few minutes setup. It additionally requires a PC (laptops are also mobile, and we can supply one if necessary), and a data projector (the machine for projecting a computer's displayed output on to a big screen).

In principle, the equipment is available for anyone at the university to use, and there is enough for the two largest lecture theatres to be using it simultaneously. In practice, the human and equipment resources are not unlimited, and advance arrangements are necessary. We can accommodate any size audience, but there is a slight chance of too many bookings coinciding for the equipment, and a considerable chance of us not having enough experienced student assistants available at the right time: that is the currently scarcest resource.

Why would you want to use EVS in your lectures?

• To "engage" and interest students at the time.
• To achieve significantly better learning gains. This has been shown to be possible, but may depend crucially on your skill at selecting questions to pose.
• To allow you to understand what this group most needs at each point, and so focus what you do much more effectively.

  My current view is that there are three main kinds of educational gain available here:

  1. Simply having a few very simple questions to check understanding after each chunk of talking reassures the students they have followed the main points, or tells them which point they should look at again. It seems to give the lecture a feeling of closure for them; and also of community (seeing whether they all got it right, or that quite a lot had trouble: tells them whether and how to talk to each other about it).
  2. Using the responses to questions to steer what you say next (if they all get it right, speed onwards; if many have trouble, re-explain in more detail). This is obviously a good idea in a revision lecture; but we should probably use this more often to focus the lecture on where the difficulties are.
  3. Get discussion going e.g. set a brain teaser, get them to vote, don't state the answer, require them to discuss with their neighbours which answers seems best to them. Active discussion is far more inducive of learning than passive listening.

Want to see them in action?

If it's one of mine you needn't ask, just turn up; and probably other users feel the same. We are none of us expert, yet we all seem to be getting good effects and needn't feel defensive about it. It usually isn't practicable to get 200 students to provide an audience for a realistic demonstration: so seeing a real use is the best option.

What's involved at the moment of use?

• Lecturer displays a multiple choice question using an OHP, blackboard, or Powerpoint.
• Students each submit an answer using their handsets
• After the elapsed time (e.g. 60 seconds), the software displays (projected on the screen) a barchart showing how many individuals selected each answer option.
• Lecturer then comments on the answer, starts a whole-class discussion, starts small group discussion, or moves straight on.

What's involved at the lecture?

• One of our assistants turns up just before the start with the laptop and receivers, plugs them in and sets up (3 mins). Similarly, packs them up and takes them away afterwards.
• Other assistants turn up with the handsets, supervise distribution and re-collection at the end. With large classes (200-300) it may be best if you provide one or two student assistants yourself to help with this: warn them to turn up a few minutes early, and help with the distribution.
• Lecturer just has to bring the questions they wish to use, although on the spot questions can also be used.
• Operating the software just requires a few clicks. As software goes it is really easy, BUT personally I find it extremely easy to get anxious with hundreds of students watching. If requested (preferably in advance), our assistant can stay and do the button clicks for you at least the first time. Documentation on the PRS software is available from their website.

One way of introducing a new audience to the EVS is described here.

What preparation is required by the lecturer?

• Booking well in advance with us so that support can be arranged, as well as ensuring the equipment is available at that time.
• Ensure that there is a data projector in the lecture room, or arrange to have one there and set up. (Many now have them as standard, but not all.)
• At least one visit to us to decide on software use, to install the software on the lecturer's laptop if that will be used, and to practise the software operation.
• Possible rehearsal in a lecture theatre, if we can afford the time.
• Prepare the questions (and how they will fit into the lecture). (Can be done on OHPs, powerpoint, or any software that can write out plain ascii text.)

Equipment?

• Handsets: one per student (or possibly, one per group).
• Receivers: set up at the front, linked by cables to the laptop. One per 50 audience members.
• A PC laptop (Macs are not currently supported). Yours, or possibly borrowed from us.
• PRS software (free software comes with the EVS): installed on the laptop.
• Powerpoint, if you use that.
• Our software to integrate PRS with Powerpoint, if you use that.

There are several alternative modes you could use this in.

• You have a PC laptop and normally use powerpoint slides for lectures. We install extra software on your PC, and you prepare a powerpoint file for each lecture as usual, but with the questions as additional slides in it.
• You normally use and take a Mac laptop. Prepare your powerpoint for the lecture, and get the file to us: in the lecture you use a PC laptop, displaying the Powerpoint prepared on the Mac.
• You must use your Mac as it runs special software essential for the lecture. Only solution will be to get 2 data projectors running side by side on two screens in the lecture theatre (possible in some cases).
• You use OHPs. Prepare these as usual, project the OHP and our laptop side by side (possible in most lecture theatres). The questions will be on OHPs, but the answer totals on the data projector.
• It is also possible to prepare questions in a plain text file, and for us to read these into our software on the spot.

Human resources

• Consultants for getting you set up in advance, installing software on your laptop and/or training you on a borrowed PC laptop.
• An assistant to take the receivers and laptop to the lecture theatre and set up.
• Assistants to dispense and recover the handsets.

What has experience shown can go wrong?

• Batteries running out in a handset: but can just pass out another handset.
• In one class, students were issued with handsets to keep for a term. In fact about a third would fail to bring them on any one day.
• Our own software, linking Powerpoint and the PRS software, can go wrong. (However restarting each often clears it; and you could always use them separately if necessary.)
• The data projector failed in BO-LT-B, and it took nearly an hour to get the replacement working. This was made much worse because the expensive installation there tries to work automatically, which means that if it goes wrong you can't tell whether it is you not finding the right control.
• In another case, a faulty cable from PC to projector not only failed to transmit the data, but shorted out and exhausted the battery in the laptop.
• Generally you cannot rely on a data projector working unless you have practised with the actual PC/laptop in combination with that particular projector. This is time consuming and discovering when the room will be free for such a technical rehearsal is not made easy.
• Trouble installing the software on some laptops. This has quite often caused trouble that took days or weeks to resolve: but it is done in advance, other laptops can be borrowed, and it hasn't ruined any lectures.
• Not being able to get assistants available in time for both a rehearsal and the occasion led to one being cancelled. Basically, my bad management.
• Not having all the right equipment ready to hand (a missing cable locked in someone's office) prevented its use in one lecture: our bad management, and hopefully changed practices will prevent a recurrence.

Unnecessary technical details

[ Long past bookings   Past workshops for prospective users     (Past uses)     Interim evaluation report ]

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