Mentimeter: How to help minimise issues with students submitting inappropriate responses

Published on: 18/11/2024 · Last updated on: 18/11/2024

Introduction

Mentimeter is a powerful polling and interactive presentation tool widely used at the University of Bath to engage students and enhance the learning experience. Its features promote active participation, but the anonymity of open text responses can sometimes lead to inappropriate or offensive submissions. This article suggests practical strategies to effectively manage and minimise issues.

Mentimeter question types that allow open text responses

Mentimeter offers several question types that enable open text input.  These include:

• Chat Interactions: Facilitates real-time text-based discussions among participants. More information about enabling chat
• Word Clouds: Students contribute single words or short phrases that form a visual representation based on frequency. More information about Word clouds
• Open-Ended Questions: Participants provide detailed responses to specific prompts. More information about open ended questions
• Q&A: Anonymously submitted questions can be addressed during or after presentations. More information about Q&A options

The benefits of open text responses

Incorporating open text responses in Mentimeter offers various advantages, so their appropriate use is encouraged, despite the risk of students entering inappropriate replies:

• Immediate Feedback: Provides instant insights into students’ understanding and opinions.
• Increases Engagement: Encourages all students to participate, including those who may be hesitant to speak up.
• Diverse Perspectives: Captures a wide range of ideas and viewpoints, enriching classroom discussions.

Teaching strategies to help limit inappropriate responses

How to enable the profanity filter for individual questions

Mentimeter includes a built-in profanity filter to help manage inappropriate language in open responses. To activate it:

1. Open the presentation
2. Open the settings menu by clicking on the cog icon at the top left of the window
3. Click on ‘Language preferences’. The dialog shown below will open.
4. Select the language(s) you would like to have profanities filtered for (You can use ‘Select all’ as shown if you like) then click ‘Done’.

Activating the ‘Always use English’ toggle will turn on the profanity filter (for English only) by default for every new Mentimeter presentation you create.
The profanity filter automatically removes offensive words based on Mentimeter’s database. It may not catch all variations or protect against deliberate, creative circumvention of the filter.

More information about the profanity filter

How to hide real-time responses while presenting

Hiding real-time responses can limit the display of inappropriate content during live presentations. For example, if students have submitted answers such as those below:

Press the ‘H’ key on your keyboard at any time during the presentation.  This will hide all the responses currently displayed:

How to hide real-time responses by default

You can select in advance to have responses hidden be default on either a slide by slide or presentation-wide basis.

To hide responses for an individual slide, set the ‘Show responses live’ toggle to OFF. Click ‘Apply to all’ if you’d like this to be the default for the entire presentation:

How to switch on Q&A moderation

When you add a Q&A slide to allow students to submit questions at a specific point in your presentation,  you can switch on moderation by toggling the moderation switch so you can review questions before they are displayed to the group:

Questions pending moderation can be viewed by opening the link provided in a separate tab. From here, you can view and approve or reject individual questions:

Approved questions will then appear on the slide:

Once approved or rejected, the status of an individual question cannot be changed again. As a separate tab is required to view pending questions, this feature may not be suitable for use in all classroom environments.

Additional Information

For further guidance on creating an inclusive and respectful learning environment, consider participating in the Mentimeter Academy’s course on Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Engaging All Students. This free, self-paced course offers additional strategies to enhance classroom inclusivity and safety.