Minute papers in ALT (active learning and teaching)

Abstract

Minute paper or One minute paper is one of the old exercises that is commonly used in classroom assessment. In this technique, students are asked to fill out responses based on their learnings at the end of a lecture in one minutes on an index card. The responses are then analyzed by the teacher. It provides rapid feedback on whether the teacher’s main idea and what the students perceived as the main idea are the same. It gives students a chance to self-reflect on their learnings and increases active participation in the class. The technique lost its popularity as it was challenging and highly time consuming to conduct it in larger classes. ALT app is a digital solution that aims to enable active learning exercises to strengthen students’ learning during the lecture. In this paper we discuss the Minute Paper functionality in the ALT app and compare the techniques used to automate summarizing of the responses. Thus making Minute Paper scalable and efficient.