Case Study: University of Connecticut achieves higher exam scores and student engagement with Top Hat

This Professor Uses Top Hat to Provide Students with More Opportunities for Success

University of Connecticut professor John Redden needed a better way to engage students in large, stadium-style anatomy and physiology classes while also offering affordable extra-credit opportunities. He had previously used response tools like iClicker and Poll Everywhere, but wanted a more customizable, student-friendly solution that fit students’ digital habits. Top Hat’s Classroom and Textbook products were used to address both in-class participation and at-home learning.

Top Hat helped Redden co-author an interactive textbook and use Top Hat Classroom for polls, discussions, and real-time feedback on students’ own devices. He combined in-class participation and textbook work in Top Hat’s gradebook, and found that the students who used Top Hat the most earned 70%+ exam scores and performed best overall. Top Hat also improved student enthusiasm and engagement, with many students preferring the interactive textbook and responding positively to the active-learning approach.

University of Connecticut

John Redden

Associate Professor, Physiology & Neurobiology