A reflection of using an online polling and Q&A platform as a method of engagement in undergraduate psychology lectures

Engaging a large cohort of students with teaching content is a difficult task for any educator working in higher education. When students are not receiving feedback about their participation efforts, this can lead to decreased engagement. Polling activities, such as hands up responses, can be used to address this, but often requires extensive input from the lecturer to set-up by thinking of questions and considering alternatives if students are not comfortable putting their hands up. However, there is now a plethora of online polling platforms (e.g., Vevox, Mentimeter) that can be used anonymously on mobile devices, to overcome these issues. Drawing upon the experiences of two educators within psychology, this paper specifically reflects upon how one of these platforms, Vevox, was implemented within first- and second-year psychology undergraduate modules. Reflections demonstrated that students found the use of Vevox to be a very positive experience; students appreciated the use of different Vevox activities and found that the anonymity afforded by the platform was beneficial in increasing engagement with the activities during teaching sessions. From these reflections, we offer guidance regarding the implementation of online and offline polling platforms.