If you still think that Piazza is something that you order when you’re too tired to cook, you’re missing out on one of the easiest ways to engage with large numbers of students with a minimum of effort.
According to Tyler Jones, a senior psychology major at Georgia Tech, “Piazza is really an amazing site for student-instructor interaction. The website allows for you to ask a question, post a note or add a poll. Posts can be for your entire class or just to your instructor and you can even post anonymously! It even has a social aspect as you (and even your instructor) can “thank” people for asking a question or posting an answer. It’s a real boost because you quickly realize that everyone has some question they need answered, and you can never forget what the answer to any question was because it’s saved on the Internet! I wish it was used in more of my classes.”
Unfortunately many instructors get turned off by Piazza when they first try it in their classes, primarily due to a lack of use. There are several ways avoid this. Ed Greco uses Piazza in his PHYS 2211 and 2212 classes and encourages instructors to “migrate from email to Piazza for questions.” Colin Potts, who uses Piazza in CS 1315, says it is important to “advertise early and often.” Cam Tyson, who uses Piazza in CHEM 1315, suggested using extra credit points to encourage participation. Chrissy Spencer from Biology uses Piazza for an in-class discussion on the first day of BIOL 1510, thereby setting the tone for Piazza use for the rest of the semester. Creating an environment where Piazza is the first place that students turn seems to be key and also leads to some of the most important benefits of the platform. Students can ask questions whenever they are ready and they can get immediate responses from other students (even in the middle of the night!), saving time spent on email and allowing shy students or students with busy schedules the opportunity to ask questions in a social way.
A common concern shared among instructors is a fear that misconceptions will be propagated through Piazza when students answer questions for each other incorrectly. Interestingly, students are great at “policing” each other and preventing that from happening. An occasional check-in from the instructor to endorse a student answer goes a long way.
Piazza can be used creatively to allow students to participate in ways that are difficult or impossible without an interactive platform. Chrissy Spencer used Piazza to have her class build its own rubric for their group video projects. At least half of her students contributed by answering her question about what makes an effective video for learning Biology. Julia Kubanek requires students to post at least three questions about a reading each semester in her chemistry course, spurring group discussion. Bill Baron from Chemistry appreciates the Piazza feature that allows images to be embedded easily.
There is really no limit to how it can be used. To give it a try, visit www.piazza.com .