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A comparative study: do "clickers" increase student engagement in multidisciplinary clinical microbiology teaching?
Niall T Stevens1, Hélène McDermott2, Fiona Boland3
1Department of Clinical Microbiology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Dublin 9, Ireland. nstevens@rcsi.ie.
BMC Medical Education
|April 10, 2017
Summary
Audience response devices, or "clickers", enhance engagement and learning experiences for medical students. While their impact on knowledge retention is variable, student attitudes towards clickers are generally positive.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Health Professions Education
- Microbiology Education
Background:
- Audience response devices (clickers) have shown variable success in healthcare professional education.
- Clickers aim to improve engagement and knowledge retention in educational settings.
- A multidisciplinary approach using clickers was evaluated for third-year medical students in a microbiology-themed curriculum.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of audience response devices (clickers) in a multidisciplinary medical education setting.
- To assess the impact of clickers on student engagement and knowledge retention in clinical case-based learning.
- To gauge medical students' attitudes towards the use of clickers in large classroom environments.
Main Methods:
- Six multidisciplinary teaching sessions on infectious diseases were conducted.
- Three sessions utilized clickers, while three did not.
- Student performance was assessed via online quizzes, and attitudes were surveyed.
Main Results:
- Online quiz scores were slightly lower after sessions using clickers.
- No significant difference in knowledge retention was found for fully engaged students.
- Students reported higher engagement and memorability with clicker-integrated sessions.
Conclusions:
- Clickers positively influence student engagement and the learning experience in large medical classrooms.
- Medical students generally have favorable attitudes towards using clickers.
- The impact of clickers on knowledge retention in medical education remains variable.