AVA Conference Brisbane 2018

Large group lecture settings form the cornerstone of preclinical veterinary education with most lectures lasting 50 minutes. It is widely recognised, however, that student attention decreases after about 10-15 minutes of lecture, suggesting that this format is ineffective for achieving student learning outcomes. Mechanisms have been suggested to re-engage students with research indicating that student-centric activities such as asking questions are most effective. Unfortunately, asking direct questions can be prohibitive in large group lecture settings because, while students may all hear the question, it is impossible for them all to answer aloud, therefore it is likely that only the students who are chosen to answer out loud will fully engage. The use of Audience Response Devices is a potential solution to this problem as they allow each student to participate and answer while also allowing the instructor to provide direct feedback on their responses. This project evaluated the effect of including question and answer sessions using audience response devices on student engagement with lecture material as measured by their performance on multiple choice assessments for the course.