Published on: 28/04/2023 · Last updated on: 28/11/2024
Introduction
Mentimeter is interactive polling software that can enhance student engagement in educational settings. By integrating real-time polls, quizzes, and word clouds into presentations, it helps to transform traditional lectures into participatory sessions. This tool is particularly effective in fostering an interactive learning environment, encouraging student input, and making learning more enjoyable and impactful. Learners can participate in real time polling activities using a mobile device, tablet or computer.
During a lecture, instructors can present interactive slides by directing students to www.menti.com and providing them with a unique code to participate. This process encourages students to engage with the material actively, providing immediate feedback and insights into their understanding. The results are displayed in real-time, allowing for instant discussion and clarification of concepts.
What are the pros & cons of Mentimeter?
- Students can respond and see the responses of their peers in real time.
- Mentimeter can integrate with PowerPoint.
- Polling software can create an engaging and interactive learning environment.
- Use polling software to check your audience’s understanding of a topic. Instructors can see results immediately and use these to inform discussion and address misconceptions.
- A range of question types are available, from multiple-choice to word clouds.
- Data can be identifiable by person or made anonymous.
- Detailed results enable further analysis, for example for research purposes or course evaluations.
- Students can use their own devices to take part in polling.
- Students can suffer from ‘question-fatigue’ if polling software is used too often.
- Mentimeter has a range of different versions and options for polling, so time needs to be invested in learning which of these are best suited for your context.
- Students without their own devices may need to share a device with a fellow student, loan a laptop, or investigate funding opportunities to access one.
- Mobile devices require a stable internet connection and battery power.
Mentimeter frequently asked questions
To effectively integrate Mentimeter, start by identifying key points in your session / presentation where student interaction would be beneficial. This could be at the beginning to gauge prior knowledge, during to check understanding, and at the end for feedback. Create your Mentimeter questions in advance and organise them in a logical sequence. This approach encourages active participation and provides immediate insights into student comprehension.
Creating a Mentimeter presentation involves setting up your questions and organising them for your session.
Follow these steps:
- Visit the Mentimeter website.
- Log in using the “Log in with SSO” option and select “University of Bath.”
- Use your University credentials to access your account.
- Click on “New Presentation” to start creating your slides.
- Select the type of question you want to add (e.g., multiple choice, word cloud).
- Customise your questions.
For more help with this process, see Getting started with Mentimeter
To integrate Mentimeter with PowerPoint, you can use the Mentimeter add-in available for Microsoft 365 accounts. This allows you to insert Mentimeter question links directly into your PowerPoint slides. Here’s how you can do it:
- Open your PowerPoint presentation.
- Go to the “Insert” tab.
- Click on “My Add-ins.”
- Select “Admin Managed” from the list.
- Choose the Mentimeter add-in to insert your question links.
You are advised not to do this for more than 4/5 questions. The questions remain in the ‘cloud’ and require the internet to work.
Preparing students for sessions including polls requires informing them about the process and ensuring they have the necessary tools to hand:
- Provide instructions in advance on how to access the polls (e.g., visiting www.menti.com and entering a unique code).
- Inform students ahead of time about the use of Mentimeter in a specific session.
- Ask them to make sure they bring along a charged device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, or laptop).
Use Clear and Simple Language: When creating questions and content in Mentimeter, use clear and simple language to ensure that all students can understand and participate.
Provide Alternative Access: Where appropriate, share Mentimeter questions with students before the lecture using a permanent URL or QR code. This allows students who may need more time to process information to engage with the content.
Consider Visual Accessibility: Use high-contrast colours and large fonts in your Mentimeter slides to aid students with visual impairments. Avoid using colour alone to convey information, as this can be challenging for students with colour-related sight issues.
Include LaTeX for Equations: If your lecture involves mathematical content, use LaTeX to include equations and symbols in Mentimeter. Ensure that these are clearly explained and provide alternative descriptions if necessary.
- Once your questions are set up, click on the “Present” button to start the practice poll. You can open a new web browser tab or use another device to simulate the student experience. Go to www.menti.com to enter the unique code provided to participate in the poll as a student.
- After completing the practice poll, review the results to make sure the questions function as intended and that the data is displayed correctly.
- Based on your practice session, make any necessary adjustments to the questions or presentation format.
It is possible to author presentations directly in Mentimeter, but we do not recommend this. Here are some of the issues you may face:
- It is beneficial to share lecture slides with students before your lecture. If you share directly from Mentimeter, the students will see the questions you intend to ask. This may not fit with your intended lecture plan.
- Although selected slides can be downloaded (i.e. without the questions), the resulting file is a PDF document which will require fixing before sharing with students.
- Presentations created in Mentimeter are not included in the institutional archiving and retention policy. This could cause significant issues for staff who may wish to access the presentations you create at a future point – Particularly if you have left the University.
If you already have a free Mentimeter account using your Bath email address ( in the format username@bath.ac.uk), this can be brought into the institutional account, including all your existing presentations/questions/results.
If you have set up a Mentimeter account using a ‘vanity’ Bath email address, in the format initial.surname@bath.ac.uk, then you should update this in your Mentimeter account settings to the ‘correct’ format username@bath.ac.uk if you want your content to be brought into the institutional account.
Similarly, if you have set up a Mentimeter account using a personal email address, such as a gmail account, you can update this to the format username@bath.ac.uk so it can then be brought into the institutional account.
Once your account has the correct email, you can log in using the Single Sign-on (SSO) link at Log in to your account – Mentimeter
Equations and symbols can be added by writing LaTeX code between dollar signs (e.g. $A=\pi r^2$) – see Mentimeter math support.
Maths cannot be inserted into the answer options boxes at the moment. If your answer contains an equation, then it’s recommended to use the “Additional details” and include the answer options in a numbered list that correspond to the numbered voting options. The additional options are always displayed on voters devices, but the presented must hover over the title for this to display.
If you are unfamiliar with LaTeX you can write the equation using Word (and in the Equation tab, click LaTeX button and then Convert: Current Linear) or use an online LaTeX equation editor and copy the source LaTeX across.
NOTE: there some important differences on how the LaTeX is interpreted:
- it is essential to not add a space inside the maths environment (i.e. after the first dollar sign: $\pi$ will render, but $ \pi$ will not)
- it is essential to add a space before the maths environment (e.g. H $^+$ will render, but H$^+$ will not)