SUBMITTED BY:Ned Hall, Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of PhilosophyWHAT YOU TRIED:If I want to poll my students about what they think, I've learned not to do this: "Raise your hand if you believe that –." Instead, I do this: "Everyone raise your hands. Now, put your hand down if you believe that –."WHAT YOU WISH YOU’D KNOWN PRIOR:Our students too often default to a passive mode, in class. This technique breaks them out of it -- though it's best used with a good deal of humor, so they don't feel you're being patronizing!BENEFITS:Easy: you're guaranteed to get a response from everyone. Try the usual method, and you'll get logically impossible data: a significant percentage of your students who neither believe that –, nor don't believe that –.