The influence of an audience response system on knowledge retention: an application to resident education

The purpose of the study was to compare delivery methods of lecture material regarding contraceptive options by either traditional or interactive lecture style with the use of an audience response system with obstetrics and gynecology residents.

A prospective, randomized controlled trial that included 17 obstetrics and gynecology residents was conducted. Group differences and comparison of pre/posttest scores to evaluate efficacy of lecture styles were performed with the Student t test. Each participant completed an evaluation to assess usefulness of the audience response system.

Residents who received audience response system interactive lectures showed a 21% improvement between pretest and posttest scores; residents who received the standard lecture demonstrated a 2% improvement (P = .018). The evaluation survey showed that 82% of residents thought that the audience response system was a helpful learning aid.

The results of this randomized controlled trial demonstrate the effectiveness of audience response system for knowledge retention, which suggests that it may be an efficient teaching tool for residency education.