Learning Catalytics Best Practices

Start simple.

Prepare the environment. (This should be easy, but if there are any issues, now is the time to find out.)

• Check that everyone can connect to the Internet in your classroom or your online/hybrid course.
• Make sure every student has a laptop, tablet, or phone they can use in class. (Most will, but people are poor. Your school probably has a loaner program.)
• Check every student has access to Learning Catalytics. Learning Catalytics is free with any eTextbook. If any students haven’t bought the eTextbook, they can buy Learning Catalytics separately for a small per-semester cost. (Students should use the same login and password for both their course and Learning Catalytics.)
• Get your students up and running quickly with their own brief Get Started document (for Mastering and MyLab courses) or this Get Started (for all others).

To introduce your students to Learning Catalytics, first do a test run with your students.

Think about several misconceptions students might have. Create a Learning Catalytics module with a few simple questions to test that.

• If you're using Learning Catalytics outside another course, you'll create a Learning Catalytics course first.

Then deliver your module in an Instructor-Led Synchronous session to:

• Review a test.
• Do a 5-minute check-in about the material you'll cover in lecture.

Give the session to your students before class or at the beginning of class. Make it quick, no-stress, no-grade.

Adjust your lecture based on the results of the session, and let students know it. Students will find class time more useful and will be motivated to take the LC assignment seriously.

Do a few more simple, quick sessions.

• What do you want to teach your students? How do you want to teach? Get tips on designing good questions.
• What information do you wish you had about your students’ understanding of Mastering? Check out Learning Catalytics reports.
• How can Learning Catalytics’s interactivity help your learning goals? One way is by letting students tell you anonymously when they’re confused.
• Look at the question types. There are plenty of Pearson-supplied questions, including advanced question types—graphs, ranking, sketch, region, data collection—but you can write your own too. How can these advanced question types make learning more effective (and more fun)?
• How about learning in teams? Students love solving problems together, and it’s more effective than individual work. Winning team gets to be Gryffindor. One of our faculty advisers even gives dollar-store prizes.
• Do you wish you knew your students better? Create a seat map that students can sign into, and impress them by knowing their names.
• Are there other ways you can take advantage of Learning Catalytics's interactivity? Read some of the ways other instructors use Learning Catalytics at https://learningcatalytics.com/pages/stories