Effect of an audience response system on resident learning and retention of lecture material

In an era of increasing clinical volume and longer workdays, the time devoted to education may be diminished in many medical centers. The goal of our study was to develop techniques for optimizing educational time.

Radiology residents in our program were randomized into two groups stratified by level of training. The control group received a standard didactic midday lecture, and the experimental group received the identical lecture material with an audience response system integrated into the lecture delivery.

The group who used the interactive audience response software had significantly higher learning (p = 0.02) and long-term retention (p = 0.001) scores on postlecture quizzes administered to both groups of residents on the day of the lecture and 3 months later.

Use of appropriate interactive teaching techniques facilitates residents' learning and retention of material. In our study, long-term retention was especially improved with use of an interactive lecture style.