Students across all degree fields and specialties dread their midterm exams. Even well-prepared students might be worried about complex concepts or information they have missed in class. However, many professors don’t want the midterms to be stressful events. Students who showed up, paid attention, and did the work should easily be able to prove what they know.
Leading a review session is one way to support your students as they study for the midterm exam. This will allow you to review what will be covered so students know what they need to focus on in their studies and what areas they are already comfortable with.
Poll Everywhere can help you out. Poll Everywhere offers a range of interactive activities to help you create a dynamic midterm review session that effectively covers everything your students have learned (or should have). Here’s how you can seamlessly integrate our tools into your classroom review for a more engaging and productive experience.
Ask Students To Submit Questions With The Q&A Activity
Your main goal when leading a midterm review session is to focus on material that the majority of students struggle with. The review helps no one if it only covers basic concepts your students mastered. However, even the most skilled professors can have difficulty identifying where their students get confused. This is where the Q&A Activity comes in.
This tool allows students to submit questions ahead of the review session. This alone can guide your review process by giving you topics to review; however, additional tools can further hone your session. Students can upvote and downvote questions, which means the most important ones will climb to the top. If the majority of the class is confused by Topic A, they will upvote questions related to it. This prevents you from spending too long on Topic B that students already know.
The Q&A Activity is also an excellent way to ensure students review the material before class. You can ask your class to submit questions before the midterm exam review and upvote relevant queries before the session starts. This requires students to reflect on what they feel confident with and where they are confused.
Host A Competition With Multiple-Choice Questions
The Multiple-choice question Activity is one of the easiest ways to conduct a midterm exam review with your students. You can share these questions throughout the semester to quiz your students. Multiple choice questions allow students to see the types of questions you will ask during the real exam, creating a quick practice test setting on the spot. This can make them more comfortable when they sit for the real thing.
You can elevate your Multiple-choice questions to develop a more effective midterm review session. Not only will these questions show you what students know and don’t know, but they can also guide the rest of the review class period. Here are a few ways to maximize this activity:
- Sort completed questions to find the ones students missed the most. These are the topics you need to go over.
- Review which questions had the most diverse incorrect answers. For example, out of four answers, each response receives 25% of the responses. This reflects a significant level of confusion about the topic.
- Break your Multiple-choice questions into small groups. Review the topics after your students answer small groups of questions, breaking up the review session between mini-quizzes and content discussions.
You can also turn your midterm exam review into a Competition. By transforming your Multiple-choice questions into a Competition, your students can rapid fire review the material in a fun and exciting way. Students will get points based on the speed and correctness of their answers and you will be able to see which students go the most right. To incentivize your students, you can also offer rewards for those who win the Competition ranging from extra credit to campus gift cards. This is a great way to gamify your review session, as students can have fun competing for points while also reviewing the class material.
Open-Ended Questions Allow Students To Show What They Know
Enhance your students' midterm preparation with an Open-ended Activity that allows them to practice writing detailed answers. Whether you ask for sentences or full paragraphs, this activity mimics the format of long-form exam questions, giving students a chance to refine their thoughts and writing skills. You can send a response link ahead of time for students to work on their answers independently, or you can have them submit responses live during your review session for a more interactive experience.
After collecting responses, dive into the answers with your students. Use this time to highlight well-crafted responses that demonstrate strong understanding, or take a moment to walk through incorrect answers, clarifying common misconceptions. By reviewing these answers in real-time, you create an engaging and interactive learning environment that encourages deeper understanding and retention.
Create Clickable Images For Visual Learners
Some courses , like medical classes or chemistry, benefit from having highly visual presentations to make studying easier. Poll Everywhere’s Clickable Image Activity is perfect for reviewing this type of material. Place any image on the screen and students can drop pins on the photo. Some great examples include:
- Locating of a small country on a world map for Geography class.
- Finding a specific abnormality in a patient’s joints for a medical class.
- Identifying a vulnerability in a bridge’s structure for a Structural Engineering class.
Clickable Images engage visual learners who might have an easier time recounting information through pictures and graphics. They also provide real-time practice tests if labeling is part of your exam. As a professor, you can use the Clickable Image to see what areas students are missing, which can then guide your review discussions.
Use Poll Everywhere Throughout Your Midterm Exam Prep
You don’t have to limit your midterm review session to a single Poll Everywhere Activity. You can incorporate Q&A activities, Clickable images, Multiple-choice questions, and Open-ended discussions throughout the prep session. This allows students to prove what they know in multiple ways and get the help they need. Your students can leave feeling confident ahead of the test while knowing what areas they should focus on in their study time.
Poll Everywhere was designed for higher education institutions. It was made to empower professors who want to engage students and better convey their course materials. If you’re new to Poll Everywhere and want to try it for your upcoming midterm review sessions, create a free account!
