Case Study: University of Florida boosts student engagement and understanding with Top Hat

University of Florida boosts class participation 83% with Top Hat

The University of Florida associate professor Jamie Pomeranz faced a challenge in his ethics course where traditional textbooks could not keep pace with rapidly changing social and legal issues. He needed dynamic course materials and a way to encourage student participation in difficult class discussions. To address this, he turned to the vendor Top Hat, specifically using Top Hat Textbook and Top Hat Classroom.

The solution involved creating a customized, updatable course pack with Top Hat Textbook to centralize materials. Using Top Hat's interactive features, Pomeranz facilitated anonymous questions and polling to foster debate. The results were significant: 83% of students agreed Top Hat encouraged more participation, 63% ranked it as the best digital resource they had used, and 67% felt the interactivity improved their understanding. Top Hat allowed for real-time content updates and built student confidence for real-world engagement.

University of Florida