Mobile Audience Response Systems at a Continuing Medical Education Conference

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Technology
• Audience Engagement Systems

Background:

• Mobile audience response systems (mARS) facilitate anonymous, immediate audience feedback and peer comparison.
• mARS are designed to increase learner interaction and active participation during presentations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate audience and speaker perceptions of mARS implementation at a national medical conference.

Main Methods:

• mARS was trialed at the CSO Annual Meeting in 2015 with 11 presenters.
• Audience members and presenters received instructions for using mARS.
• Data was collected through emailed Likert scale and short answer surveys.

Main Results:

• Twenty-seven participants (23 audience, 4 instructors) responded.
• Responders reported improved attention, involvement, and understanding of topics with mARS.
• mARS was perceived as user-friendly, with most respondents favoring its use in future presentations and conferences.

Conclusions:

• mARS received positive reception, with a majority advocating for its increased use in national medical conferences.
• Further research is recommended to explore mARS as an educational tool for improving patient outcomes.