Assessment of an electronic voting system within the tutorial setting: A randomised controlled trial [ISRCTN54535861]

A prospective randomised controlled trial was run at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, a teaching hospital in Adelaide, Australia. 102 students in their first clinical year of medical school participated in the study where an electronic voting system was introduced as a teaching aid into a standard tutorial. Long-term retention of knowledge and understanding of the topics discussed in the tutorials was measured and student response to the introduction of the electronic voting system was assessed.Students using the electronic voting system had improved long-term retention of understanding of material taught in the tutorial. Students had a positive response to the use of this teaching aid.Electronic voting systems can provide a stimulating learning environment for students and in a small group tutorial may improve educational outcomes.In the modern teaching environment, the small group tutorial is favoured over lectures. A well run tutorial is stimulating and involves frequent participation from all members within the class in a non-threatening environment. Perhaps the main advantage of a small class size is the ability to incorporate a number of active learning strategies. The inclusion of discussion methods can lead to improved student performance [1,2], particularly when considering retention of knowledge, critical thinking and problem solving [3]. Unfortunately, it is a common observation that tutors tend to use the same teaching methods whether they are delivering lectures or running tutorials. This can result in dry and lifeless tutorials, devoid of any student participation and wasting the great potential for active learning implicit in the format.Several factors influence the dynamics of a tutorial. The style and attitude of the tutor is critical and those who seek to engage their group in a non-threatening manner are more likely to be rewarded by increased group participation. The larger the group, the more difficult will be the engagement. This is partly because