Case Study: Georgia Southern University improves biology exam performance with Top Hat

How formative and summative assessments in Top Hat improved grades without sacrificing course standards

Georgia Southern University professor Sue Ellen DeChenne-Peters needed a better way to gauge student understanding in a large, auditorium-style molecular biology class. She wanted a versatile assessment tool that could work with her PowerPoint materials and help her identify learning gaps before it was too late, so she turned to Top Hat.

Using Top Hat’s all-in-one teaching platform, DeChenne-Peters added daily formative questions and weekly summative tests to her course, with students answering via their phones. The approach improved classroom discussion and accountability, while increasing the average midterm score by 7% and raising the median midterm grade from 64% to 71%, all without lowering course rigor.

Georgia Southern University

Sue Ellen DeChenne-Peters

Assistant Professor, Biology, College of Science and Mathematics