Teaching Tip: Active Learning in the IS Classroom: A Student Crowdpolling Exercise for IS Courses

ABSTRACT

Active learning pedagogy has many documented benefits, and while several positive examples of its recent use in STEM classes have led to better performance, greater diversity, more equity, and improved retention of underrepresented student populations, more research in IS and IT classrooms is needed. Most active learning exercises are in a traditional in-person format;however, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a demand for more online classes. Here we present an easy-to-adopt, active learning crowdpolling exercise that can be used for all modalities, including online, hybrid, and face-to-face, moreover, can be used throughout the semester or for a portion of it. The exercise creates a small crowdpolling results database that can be used to enhance student data literacy and teach a variety of IS topics such as database, systems analysis and design, and data analytics. An extended example of how it is used in the Introduction to IS course is provided.