Move the One-Minute Paper Online with Survey Tools

One-minute papers provide the instructor with a quick and manageable formative assessment.
by LSA Learning & Teaching Technology Consultants

To use a Google Form for this exercise, create a simple two-question survey in Google Forms using the paragraph/long answer type question. Provide students the link to the survey at the end of class, and a time by which they should submit their response. For example, if the class is meeting synchronously from 11:00am until 11:50am, you may ask students to submit the form by 12noon. The form makes this a quick and easy task for students to complete. 

After students have submitted their one-minute papers (surveys), open the Google Form results in spreadsheet view to read the student responses. You can see in the image below how easy it is to scroll through student responses and gather a quick overview of how the class is doing.

Notice that the students' responses on the spreadsheet will be time-stamped, so you will not necessarily need to create a new form for each one-minute paper. Just look at the time stamp to tell you which class session the responses were written for. 

To use Canvas Quizzes, create a Canvas Quiz of the type Ungraded Survey. Add two questions of the Essay type, with your prompts. Again, you will want to direct students toward the Modules or Quizzes in your Canvas course site, depending on how you have chosen to present content to them, and let them know when they need to submit the survey by. You can also set a specific Due time on the survey, if you wish, which will be visible to students. To view the survey results, open the quiz and select “Show Student Survey Results from the three-dot menu at the top right.

While a Canvas Quiz cannot be re-taken the same way a Google Form can collect multiple submissions over time, it is easy to make copies of the survey once you have it set up.

Once you have concrete responses from your students, it’s important that you have plans in place to do something with it. Some possibilities are:

  • Post questions and answers on Canvas in an Announcement

  • Send questions and answers as an email follow-up to the class

  • Answer commonly asked questions at the start of the next class

  • Prepare a handout or content page in your course site, explaining confusing content 

  • Revise course content to address frequently occurring questions

Having students reflect on their learning is a great way to end class, especially when it takes only one minute. And with the help of a survey tool, the one-minute paper can be as quick and efficient an assessment tool for remote teachers as it is for in-person classes.  

If you would like assistance or even a sounding board to help you think through how to best use this kind of activity, please feel free to contact us at LSATechnologyServices@umich.edu

 

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Release Date: 08/28/2020
Category: Learning & Teaching Consulting; Teaching Tips
Tags: Technology Services