Toward the effective use of voting machines in physics lectures

A "voting machine" is a generic name for wireless-keypad in-class polling systems used by students to answer multiple-choice questions during lectures. We present our experiences gained while distributing and using voting machine modules. Using voting machines with carefully designed sets of multiple-choice questions and instantaneous voting summaries improved classroom dynamics and provided students with several opportunities per concept to test their understanding. Three question sets developed for the electricity and magnetism quarter of a year-long introductory physics course are included as examples. (c) 2005 American Association of Physics Teachers.