Turning Point is the audience response system utilized in all basic sciences courses. Its use reflects the participation and performance of the student to whom the device or account is registered. Each student is responsible for the activity on their device(s)/account registered through the audience response system. For academic activities, there are two options for submitting a response to a formative question whilst in class:
- Turning Point App from Google Play or Apple Stores: This must be accessed with the student SGU turning point account.
- Browser-based TTPoll.com can also be used for the audience response system.
Students should only respond to formative turning point questions whilst physically in class and with their own device/account that is registered to them. Use in class will be taken to indicate the presence of the student registered to the device. To earn participation credit, students must attend their assigned class activities in person (assigned by College, cohort or any other means outlined in the syllabus or course management site) and participate in every formative assessment item. Students can only earn participation credit for presence at their assigned scheduled activities.
Misrepresentation of participation and/or performance through the misuse of the audience response system constitutes academic dishonesty and is a violation of the Honor Code, e.g. remote use whilst out of class. Students may face academic penalties for attempting to misrepresent their participation record for their assigned learning activities. Geolocation checks are used in class to determine presence.
Attempting to earn participation credit for an activity that has been partially attended, or for which the student has not attended physically, will result in referral to the Faculty Panel for Academic Professionalism (FPAP) for a review of the incident and students may be subject to academic penalties and disciplinary action.
Random participation checks will be carried out on a weekly basis during the term using Turning Point Geolocation. Turning Point Geolocation checks will be used to verify student presence and compare it with the participation records from the audience response system. Student will be required to “check-in” using the Turning Point App, or TTpoll.com. Anyone who is registered as participating through the audience response system, but who is not present on the Turning Point Geolocation “check-in,” may be subject to penalties which includes loss of professionalism and participation points, referral to FPAP and referral to the Senior Associate Dean of Basic Sciences Office.
Any student leaving a learning activity early, e.g., prior to the full debrief after the last formative assessment question of the lecture, or prior to the geolocation check, will not be considered as fully participating. To earn participation for this session, students must participate in every formative assessment question and complete the geolocation process. Although students are expected to make every effort to participate in all required academic activities, they must participate in at least 80% of required course activities to earn credit for the course. Any student trying to claim credit for participation, by responding to the first and last assessment question, but who has left prior to the Turning Point Geolocation check-in, is in violation of the policy and will be flagged for follow up. Any student who has responded to formative participation questions but is not present in venue as is noted by absence on the Turning Point Geolocation check-in, irrespective of the reason for the absence, is in violation of the policy and will be flagged for follow up.
It is the responsibility of every student to have registered devices and are able to participate in formative assessment questions, to ensure their devices are in working order and functional during course activities, and to check the course gradebook weekly to detect any problems with his or her participation records. Failure to do so may result in the loss of participation credit or flagging of the student during Turning Point Geolocation checks, for which the student will be held responsible.
Non-compliant students flagged during random Turning Point Geolocation checks will receive an e-mail requiring them to explain, in writing or to the FPAP, the reasons for the discrepancy between the audience response system and the Turning Point Geolocation data. Appropriate academic penalty may be levied for non-compliance with the participation policy. Students may be referred to the Judiciary Office for repeated non-compliance.