University of Leeds
Learn how the implementation of Vevox in classes at the University of Leeds has allowed academics a greater understanding of their students learning, in addition to an increase in student engagement.
The University of Leeds is a public research University based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. It was formerly established as the Yorkshire College of Science in 1874, before receiving its royal charter in 1904 and becoming the University of Leeds. A member of the esteemed ‘Russell Group’ of UK universities, it is the 10th largest university in the UK by total enrollment.
The University had previously been using an in-house polling solution, but decided that they wanted to transition to a different, more intuitive platform. Ellie Dunn, Digital Education Systems Lead at the University, explains how the process of procuring a new student response system led them to Vevox and the reasons why academic staff are having success using the tool.
“From feedback & various functional requirements we had, Vevox scored the highest and came out on top.”
The procurement process
In her role as Digital Education Systems Lead, Ellie is responsible for looking after systems for teaching and learning across the University. Before they had Vevox, they had a gap in functionality for an easy to use polling tool and Ellie was the person responsible for looking for and procuring a new tool.
Ellie explains the process that they went through when searching for a new tool, and the reasons why Vevox eventually came out on top: “ I came across Vevox while we were undergoing a completely open tender, so we had the market come to us. We went through the process of quite a wide tender where lots of people from across the University were invited to have demos and test different potential platforms.”
“We put together a list of technical requirements that we needed the new platform to fulfil, in addition to various functional requirements in terms of what the tool could and couldn’t do such as question types. Vevox ranked highest and ticked the boxes for what we wanted on both these fronts.”
“User feedback from the demos that staff had received, along with reviews that Vevox had received from other higher education institutions were other really important factors for us and Vevox again came out on top. Additionally, the customer support that if offered by Vevox was another big pull towards using the system, and was another big reason that we ultimately chose to go with Vevox.”
Popular Vevox features
“For academic staff, the biggest one would be live polling. We’ve received really good feedback from staff mentioning how easy to use Vevox is and the simplicity of quickly creating a poll and get something up on screen to get a consensus from students is really helpful. Also, the ability for students to quickly scan a QR code and instantly be able to answer polls is great.”
“Using speed scoring and leaderboards when running polls is another feature that staff find a really fun aspect to help create a bit of a buzz, and add some competitiveness to the class. Academic staff also really like the variety of question types that are on offer within Vevox. Outside of the classroom, we’ve had a few conferences where the Vevox Q&A has been used which has been really good.”
Does Vevox increase student engagement?
“Yes. Anecdotally we’ve heard that students are engaging more and some students that might not have ordinarily put their hand up are now getting involved more, which is good. As a consequence, academics are able to see how well students are understanding more than they perhaps would without Vevox. Students are enjoying using Vevox and like the interactive elements that Vevox brings to sessions.”
Ellie’s Vevox top-tip
“My top-tip is to make sure you always use the reset session button after testing your polls! Also, in terms of implementation it’s easy to just show people how to use Vevox without needing to tell them too much. We’re advertising to staff by showing how Vevox works rather than telling them, and this approach has been successful.”
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