CircleIn for Professors
👋 CircleIn Collaborate Introduction
CircleIn is designed to be a student-led study community. You, as the instructor, can choose how active you wish to be in the app. Courses with the most improved success rates have instructors who consistently promote CircleIn to their students to study together using the app, link CircleIn within their LMS and who have incorporated participation points into their grading scale.
Getting Started: What’s CircleIn and CircleIn Insights?
CircleIn has created two distinct software applications: CircleIn and CircleIn Insights.
- CircleIn is the core study app for students and professors. The app combines student-only chat communities and a place for students to create and share study tools with their classmates. At the end of each week, students can also provide feedback to instructors on what they’ve learned during the week. Read the CircleIn Student Welcome Guide to learn more about how students can use CircleIn.
- Students can earn points when using the app and making substantive posts, called “study actions.” The more posts, the more points. Points can then be converted into gift cards.
- Students will be automatically added into CircleIn – all they will need to do is download the app
- CircleIn Insights is the back-end administrative dashboard where you, as the instructor, can monitor student activity reports, review student-created study tools, and review student course feedback. You will be automatically added into this tool as are your students.
Implementing CircleIn Collaborate In Your Course
1⭐ Incorporate a participation grade. We highly recommend it for increased student engagement and the best trackable outcomes/impact studies.
2⭐ Add CircleIn to your Syllabus (before your syllabus deadline)
3⭐ Please ensure CircleIn is enabled in your LMS and please add the CircleIn tutorial/walkthrough to your LMS.
4⭐ Email your students an invitation to download.
5⭐ Show your students our Welcome to CircleIn Introduction PowerPoint Slides in class and ask them to download the app.
6⭐ Give students 5 minutes at the end of each course to go into CircleIn and complete their reflection on what they learned, what they are struggling with and questions they still have, using the Course Feedback feature.
These instructional strategies yield the most impact...
During the pilot, instructors found that these strategies helped to engage more students into using the app:
- Add CircleIn information to their syllabus & LMS.
- First day of class: share instructions & encourage students to download the app in class.
- Share the CircleIn QR code and URL on a slide the first day and week of class.
- Award participation points for substantive CircleIn study actions.
- Ask your GA or SI Leader to reach out to students to sign up. Encourage them to communicate with students through the app.
- Give students a few minutes at the end of class (at the end of week) to provide feedback through the CircleIn “exit ticket” app survey – then following up on what you learned during the next class period or through supplemental resources in your LMS.
- Consistently encourage them to use the app.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it important to promote CircleIn to your students?
Research indicates that the more a student studies, the better they do academically. This gives them one more tool that they can use at any time that works best for them. It's critical that you promote the app in your classroom to support a successful learning outcome. If they don’t know about it, they can’t take advantage of this additional support.
What weekly student feedback will I receive?
At the end of each week, students will be asked to provide their instructors with feedback through the app. This is compiled into a report that can be accessed through Insights and then downloaded into a spreadsheet.
Think of this as a weekly “Exit Ticket” to help you gauge student learning, communicate with many students at one time, and create an action cycle to address areas where students are struggling.
Student Feedback Questions:
- What did you learn during the most recent lecture?
- Is there anything you’re struggling with or need help with?
- Do you have any questions you can’t find answers to or any unresolved needs in this class?
How much time each week will CircleIn require from me after I share the tool with my students?
- For professors who want students to improve their study habits and get actionable feedback on students gaps, issues and questions:
- Give 3-5 minutes at the end of each course for students to complete their student self reflection on CircleIn as an exit ticket. Professors get a report every week and go into the CircleIn dashboard anytime to understand exactly where students are struggling the most or where they have the most questions when trying to understand the material
- Professors who simply want to inform their students of the tool that can help them study and are not looking for any additional personal wins beyond better prepared students
- No additional time
What does CircleIn do to uphold academic integrity?
See our Academic Integrity Policy to understand the preventative guardrails for cheating we have out in place that keeps students from cheating on CircleIn
Will I have to “charge” my students money to buy CircleIn?
No. CircleIn is a free tool, provided to students to help them improve their overall study habits, and help seeking behavior to equip them to succeed.
Do I need to master CircleIn to handle student questions?
No. Students contact CircleIn directly through the CircleIn website or app.
How did CircleIn help a professor increase their pass rate by 20%?
Watch this 5 minute video - Dr. Olivia Shand
What if I need tech support?
Need help? Email CircleIn at support@circleinapp.com.
