Mentimeter – new opportunities for RSU lecturers to promote student-centred learning and teaching

02 September 2026

Educational Growth

Mentimeter, available to RSU lecturers, makes it possible to enhance lectures and classes with polls, knowledge self-assessment quizzes, word clouds and other activities, while providing lecturers with immediate insight into students’ learning. In September, the Centre for Educational Growth (CEG) invites lecturers to participate in two Mentimeter training sessions.

Mentimeter licences are available to lecturers at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) for creating interactive and student-centred learning experiences. Mentimeter can be used in face-to-face, online and hybrid lectures and classes: students use their own devices to join an activity prepared by the lecturer, while their responses can be collected and displayed immediately.

The tool allows lecturers to create polls, quizzes, word clouds, scales, open-ended questions and question-and-answer sessions in which participants can also vote on questions submitted by others. Because the tool enables anonymous participation, it can encourage students who are less likely to contribute to public discussions to express their views. Students’ responses help the lecturer assess how the group’s understanding is developing during a lecture or class, highlight differing opinions and identify misconceptions. Mentimeter content is created in a presentation format and includes slide templates as well as artificial intelligence features, including the grouping of submitted responses.

Three practical ways to use Mentimeter in the study process

Activate prior knowledge and identify misconceptions.
When starting a new topic, the lecturer can ask an open-ended question, for example: ‘What misconceptions have you heard about this topic?’ The responses can be grouped thematically, and students can be invited to vote on which they consider the most common. In this way, the lecturer obtains examples at the very beginning of the class that can be used later in the lecture, while helping students connect their previous experience with the knowledge they are about to acquire.
Check students’ knowledge and adapt learning.
After explaining a new concept or theory, the lecturer can offer a short multiple-choice self-assessment question or task. If some students choose an incorrect answer, there is no need to move immediately to the next topic: students can be asked to discuss their choices in pairs, explain their reasoning and consider the possible answers. A repeated vote allows the lecturer to see whether understanding has improved after the discussion. For students, this is a low-risk opportunity to test their knowledge; for the lecturer, it provides immediate feedback on the effectiveness of their teaching.
Apply knowledge when analysing a case or problem.
After learning the theory, the lecturer can present a situation resembling a professional context and ask: ‘What should be done next?’ Students submit solutions, evaluate alternatives proposed by other students and justify their choices. Such an activity moves learning from recalling facts towards analysis, reasoning, decision-making and applying knowledge to a new situation.

Mentimeter activities do not need to be lengthy. A short question at the beginning of a lecture can help students prepare for learning, while regular moments of interaction during the lecture can help maintain attention. At the end of the lecture, a word cloud or an open-ended question about the most important takeaway allows students to recall what they have learned and helps the lecturer evaluate what should receive further attention.

CEG training for lecturers – from first experience to purposeful use of the tool

On 15 September, the basic-level Mentimeter training session ‘Designing Engaging Learning Experiences with Mentimeter’ will take place. Lecturers will learn how to use Mentimeter to prepare students for the content they are about to learn, activate prior knowledge, encourage participation, use formative assessment and consolidate learning through feedback and reflection. The training will demonstrate how to access the tool, create a first Mentimeter presentation, configure presentation settings and use the collaboration options available in the tool.

On 22 September, the advanced-level Mentimeter training session ‘The Room You Design Is the Attention You Get’ will take place. The focus will be on purposefully guiding students’ attention in a large audience: how to strengthen participation, support sustained attention and create focused learning. Participants will use Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop questions for different cognitive levels – from recalling facts to applying knowledge, analysing, evaluating and creating new solutions.

Both training sessions will be held in English and led by Mentimeter Learning Adviser Galina Butsyak. To gain a comprehensive understanding of both the tool’s technical capabilities and its pedagogically purposeful use, we recommend participating in both sessions. Registration for the training sessions

Registration for the training session (with RSU email)

During the autumn semester, CEG will also offer training on the use of Mentimeter in Latvian.

We invite you to start by trying it out

Activate your RSU Mentimeter licence using your RSU email account and SSO authentication by following the instructions ‘How to activate the RSU Mentimeter licence’.

Try creating one small activity, participate in a CEG-organised training session and integrate the tool into your teaching. After trying it out, evaluate students’ responses and participation, as well as your own experience, so that you can make your next Mentimeter activity even more purposeful.

The implementation of Mentimeter at RSU is led by the Centre for Educational Growth.
We would like to thank the RSU management for its support in making Mentimeter available to lecturers.