Google Forms

A New “Form” of Classroom Participation

Eric Sanders, Moravian College

Abstract:

New forms of technology are commonly used to enhance participation of students in college classrooms. For example, there are a variety of “online clickers” that are used to survey student knowledge and engage students in classroom content. The advantage of using tools like this is that they provide a way for students who may be reticent to participate without having a classroom of their peers focused on their words. A weakness of this type of tool, however, is that it does not allow for in-depth responses to instructor queries. This presentation will focus on the use of Google Forms, a free internet site, to facilitate student engagement in both small and large student-size classrooms. This presentation will overview how this tool has been used with undergraduate students in a variety of different types of courses. Additionally, student feedback about the use of this tool will be discussed.

Tools:

Google Forms

Google Forms is a survey administration app that is included in the Google Drive office suite along with Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. Forms features all of the collaboration and sharing features found in Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Key Terms/Tags:

Digital surveys, online surveys, live quiz

Directions for Google Forms:

1. Visit the Gmail website. If you already have a Gmail account, click the “sign in” prompt in the upper right corner. If you do not already have a Gmail account, you will need to create one.
2. After signing in, click the square of nine boxes in the upper right corner of the page. Select the “Drive” option.
3. Once in the Google Drive, select the “New” prompt in the upper left corner. Select the “Google Form” option in the drop-down list. This will create a new Google Form.
4. Add a title to the form. Click the gray plus sign on the right side to add questions. Use the drop-down feature to change question types.
5. Change the setting to send to people outside your domain.
6. Click the send button to generate a hyperlink or e-mail for distribution.

Resources:

• Google Forms Help Center