From January 2016 the new teaching and evaluation system Mentimeter is being introduced. CESU and SKT have together purchased a license for the full program, which enables teachers to ask the students questions about the teaching before, during and after each lecture. The system has been tested at the faculty, where it has contributed to teaching that both activates the students and is inclusive.

2016.01.11 | Malene Løvig Nielsen

AU VOTE presents results using clear graphics. (Left) To a very small extent, (Right) To a very high extent, (Text) The teacher/doctor made use of examples and was spontaneous in the teaching situation

At the Centre for Health Sciences Education (CESU) the staff have been busy readying the new teaching and evaluation tool, so teachers can begin using it in January. Utilising the Student Respond system Mentimeter, CESU has developed a new platform for the teaching evaluation. The program is called AU VOTE and is an online tool that will be made available for all members of teaching staff at Health in 2016. Using AU VOTE, the teacher can ask the students questions before, during and after each lecture. The students answer the questions from their own computer, tablet or smartphone. Answers are anonymous.

Mads Ronald Dahl carries out research into digital learning systems at CESU and has been responsible for the implementation of the system, which is supported by strategic funding from AU. He explains that the program will provide the teacher with the opportunity to get an immediate assessment of the course, so that it can be adjusted while underway, rather than once the course is completed.

"At the same time, the tool can also be used to create teaching that activates the students. The students can use their phone or tablet to answer questions during the lecture, so that the teacher can ensure that the lecture develops according to the students' needs," says Mads Ronald Dahl.

The free version of Mentimeter has been used and recommended for teaching staff at Health over the last couple of years as part of the Educational IT module in the teacher training programme for assistant professors, as well as by teachers who wish to increase student involvement in lectures.

CESU and SKT are financing the new tool

CESU has purchased the license to Mentimeter together with SKT. It was originally intended to be a local solution at SKT, but it has turned out that the license can cover the whole faculty. In the new year, all employees at the faculty will be able to access the system. Mads Ronald Dahl is looking forward to seeing AU VOTE being put to use.

"I have high expectations for this investment and, as I see it, it fits perfectly with the Educational IT strategy for the university as a whole. It provides new opportunities for creating teaching that activates the students," he says.

Rasmus Thøger Christensen, who is international student counsellor at Health, has had access to the new system via CESU and has used it in his teaching of students at Health. He says he will use the system again.

"AU VOTE is an extremely accessible and user-friendly system that I would recommend to other members of teaching staff. I will use the system in the future for quality assurance and evaluation of my presentations, and to survey the students' knowledge of the topic that I am presenting – both before and after the presentation," says Rasmus Thøger Christensen.

• CESU and SKT have purchased a license to the Mentimeter Student Respond system. The license is valid for 2016.
• CESU has used Mentimeter to develop a new platform for teaching evaluation. The new system is called AU VOTE.
• AU VOTE makes it possible for teaching staff to ask students questions before, during and after lectures.
• AU VOTE will be offered to all employees at Health from January 2016.

Further information

Mads Ronald Dahl
The Centre for Health Sciences Education (CESU), Aarhus University
MD@cesu.au.dk
Direct tel.: (+45) 8620 5223

Updated 12th January 2016.