What do students and educators really think about Top Hat? We asked over 21,000 students and hundreds of instructors from leading institutions to share how Top Hat impacts engagement, learning, and success. Here’s what they said.
Nov 18, 2025. Top Hat team.
Fall 2024 Survey Results
21,430 students across leading institutions—including Ohio State, NC State, Penn State, and University of Arizona—shared their thoughts on Top Hat.
of students say Top Hat is
easy to use
Top Hat was fast and easy to understand and use. This made for straightforward attendance, receiving grades, and doing coursework.”
of students say it helped them feel engaged in the learning process
It made classes more interactive. I could participate in polls, quizzes, and discussions directly from my device, which kept me engaged and involved.”
of students would recommend that their instructor use Top Hat again
It allowed me to access everything I needed in one place, making studying and completing assignments much easier.”
Top Hat Ace uses AI to help students study smarter—offering real-time hints, explanations, study prep, and adaptive practice.
of Ace users said it helped them learn or understand the material.
[Ace] gives me a chance to reflect on whether I am understanding the content in class. It also allows me to get more practice.”
More than 30,000 instructors at 1,500+ institutions use Top Hat to support learning for over
three million students every year. Here’s how professors describe its impact on teaching and learning.
Top Hat increases participation and makes students excited to show up and speak up.
“Using technology to help students understand the trends and patterns that are going to affect them is transformative. I use Top Hat as a way to engage students, to pull them into what’s happening in the class, and then to connect that to what happens in the world outside. Student enrollment is up, my classes are full, and now there’s a wait list.”
“After using Top Hat and the interactive textbook, students were able to engage in deeper-level thinking. I could see them enjoying the learning process. I was connecting with them and the material was connecting with them in a way that was meaningful and enjoyable for them.”
2
Instructors report higher attendance and more active student participation with Top Hat.
“My topics are static, but the examples we use change every semester based on what students want to learn and what’s relevant to their lives and career paths. Top Hat creates an environment where students are even more likely to not just come to class, but to participate.”
“Every single class period has had full attendance, except for students out with illness. For the first time in my teaching career, I had three students get 100 percent on one of my exams. Top Hat isn’t just encouraging engagement; it’s encouraging enthusiasm.”
3
Top Hat helps students master material, practice more often, and boost academic results.
“Between quizzes, textbook readings, and homework, Top Hat has given students lots of different ways to assess their own learning. They walk out of our course feeling like they know this stuff, because they’ve had so much practice at it.”
“An opportunity to engage at a deeper level enables critical thinking. Together with all the measurements we did, it was evident that students increased critical thinking skills through Top Hat and the course more broadly.”
“Top Hat encourages students to read and think more deeply before class. We now start with activities that are higher up in Bloom’s Taxonomy. The students have time to really wrestle with ideas in a way that wasn’t possible before.”
4
Top Hat gives educators live classroom data and helps students stay on track.
“I leave the discussion board on the screen in front of everybody so they can see the feedback raw and let me know whether they feel lost or to keep going. This is much more helpful than end of course feedback, because if I see that students are getting hung up on a particular concept I can act on it as soon as the next day.”
“In my Gradebook, I can look at if a student answers, but also when they answer: right before deadlines, at three in the morning, or immediately after assigned. This data can help me predict whether a student passes or fails.”
5
Professors use Top Hat to customize content and engagement across course types.
“I love the flexibility of Top Hat. I can do so many things with the platform, including pre-class assignments, post-class assignments, and in-class questions. Top Hat is not just an in-class response system.”
“The benefit of Top Hat is customization. I am constantly changing my approach to try and figure out what works best for my students. It’s not restrictive.”
6
“My motivation for working with Top Hat was being able to design what I consider to be my dream class resource. The textbook is a dynamic resource that’s really easy to use. At any point if I need to change anything that’s old, or put anything in that’s new, my students see it right away.”
“Top Hat content is offered at a pretty affordable price compared to most Social Sciences and Humanities textbooks. What I love about Top Hat is that I can replace examples moment to moment and semester to semester. I’ll read each chapter for the second half of the course and ask myself, ‘is there anything I can change or update that’s going to match the lecture students are getting in class?’”
Top Hat’s support team consistently earns top marks. When asked, “How satisfied are you with the support you receive from Top Hat?” 97% of instructors reported being satisfied or very satisfied.
“Top Hat’s tech support is better than the other platforms I’ve used. I had a small issue in the spring and my Customer Success Manager got back to me within the hour.”
Top Hat helps instructors modernize their teaching with a flexible platform that supports interactive learning, real-time feedback, and AI-powered tools for higher education. Whether you’re looking to improve student engagement, simplify grading, or personalize course content, Top Hat empowers educators to do it all in one place.
Try Top Hat to see the difference yourself!
