University of Birmingham
Learn how Alan Greene, Reader in Constitution Law & Human Rights at the University of Birmingham, has been using Vevox to increase student engagement amongst quieter students.
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a public research University based in Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1900 and received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen’s College Birmingham. It was the first English ‘red brick’ university to receive its own royal charter.
Home to around 30,000 students, the University is a member of the prestigious ‘Russell Group’ of British research universities.
Alan Greene, Reader in Constitution Law & Human Rights at the University, has been using Vevox to increase interactivity and engagement during his teaching – he explained how Vevox has had a positive impact on engagement, especially amongst quieter students.
Anonymity is absolutely a great way of getting people to speak up who are afraid!
Why Vevox?
The University of Birmingham wanted to search for a new technology that could be used to improve engagement amongst students in large group settings, increase participation and create some more innovative ways to learn – this is what led to the University choosing to use Vevox.
Alan had used similar software to Vevox in a previous role at a different University, and when he was made aware that the University of Birmingham had institution wide access to Vevox, he decided to give it a go.
How does Alan use Vevox?
“In my role, my main teaching topic is public law, which I teach to around 800 students. I also teach on counter-terrorism law at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
“I first used Vevox when teaching my public law course – using a live poll to help highlight the difference between the votes it takes to win an election, versus getting the majority of votes.
“I also regularly use ranking polls – one example is when we were discussing human rights, I asked students to rank different human rights in order of which they thought were the most important.
“For the Q&A, I put up the QR code in advance of a class so that students can post any comments or questions before and during the session – using the Q&A anonymously is absolutely a great way of getting people to speak up who are afraid!”
What impact does Vevox have on student engagement?
“Vevox helps engagement by allowing me to be more creative with my teaching – for example running ranking polls which I just simply wouldn’t be able to do without Vevox.”
Alan’s top-tip
“Play around with Vevox and just give it a go! It’s intuitive, really easy to use and students like it and engage with it. You really can’t make mistakes!”
