What are self-paced activities?

In this article we cover:

• What are self-paced activities and how do they work?
• Points to remember when setting up self-paced activities
• How to maximize the value of your data
• Three survey questions for effective end-of-meeting feedback

What are self-paced activities and how do they work?

Vevox's self-paced activities allow you to ask your audience, participants or students multiple questions that they can answer in their own time at their own pace and on their devices. This is ideal for asynchronous polls also called self-paced polls and even hyflex learning.  Participants completing a survey can see how many questions they have answered and continue to edit or change their answers until the session host closes & unpublish the survey. This will remove the survey from the app. 

We have 2 types of self-paced activity:

• Survey - Surveys are used for opinion based feedback. Typically the questions will not have right or wrong answers, you are just interested in gathering the feedback and opinions of your audience.
• Quiz - Quizzes are for when you want to check or test knowledge. This is where questions can have correct answers, with options to show scores, explain correct answers, and display leaderboards.

In a survey, participants have the option to submit their responses incrementally even if they haven't answered all questions. However, they can revisit the survey while it remains open to add more answers or edit their existing ones as desired.

Self-paced quizzes are a loved and widely used feature within the surveys tool. These quizzes operate as surveys that include correct answers, making them highly effective for formative assessment and monitoring students’ progress in specific subject areas. Instructors can schedule self-paced quizzes to open and close on set dates and times and can also apply a time limit for completion. Once students submit their responses, they receive immediate feedback and view a customized summary screen displaying their scores, performance insights, correct answers, and explanations.

Points to remember when setting up self-paced activities: 

1. Participants will answer the self-paced surveys and quizzes in their own time. 
2. To ensure optimal engagement, it's crucial to keep surveys concise and straightforward. While you can add unlimited questions, it's advisable to avoid overwhelming participants, as lengthy surveys may lead to decreased interest and incomplete responses.
3. Before creating your survey, determine the specific insights you aim to gather and tailor your questions accordingly. Consider how you plan to analyze the survey data, including whether demographic or profiling questions will be useful for cross-referencing.
4. To streamline survey setup, consider duplicating questions with the same scale. This simplifies the process and ensures consistency throughout the survey.
5. For quizzes requiring participants to see correct answers, set up a self-paced quiz within the survey. Utilize the data reporting to analyze quiz scores, especially for assessing comprehension post-lecture or post online class.
6. After a meeting, class, or session concludes, you can leave the survey open to collect feedback over several days to allow for post class or session analysis.
7. Remember, the purpose of asking survey questions is to act upon the responses. Be prepared to take action based on the feedback received.
8. A survey can stay open for as long as you need it. But see the information box below.
9. Live polling and surveys can be asked in the same session.
10. You can view session data while the survey is still open, but keep in mind that the results may continue to change. The final report will only be available once the survey is closed and no new responses can be submitted.

How to maximize the value of your data: 

1. Vevox’s reporting tools let you dig into your data your way—either by customizing reports or by using Excel for more detailed insights.
2. Use the sharable infographics as well as the ‘Session analytics overview’ for your feedback.
3. Use cross-tabulation if asked profile or demographic responses. Don’t ask too narrow profile questions.
4. Keep your surveys consistent. Use the ‘import surveys’ functionality or your question library so you don’t need to re-create the survey from start.
5. React quickly – while the data is still valuable.
6. Timing – request participants to fill in the survey towards the end of the meeting, session or class, to ensure relevant feedback. 

Example of what a survey in the Vevox app will look like in a participant browser:

Example of three survey questions to ask at the end of your meeting