Hybrid Interactive and Didactic Teaching Format Improves Resident Retention and Attention Compared to Traditional Lectures

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the traditional lecture to a hybrid interactive and didactic teaching format with regards to radiology resident short- and long-term retention, as well as attention.

Materials and methods: The tested hybrid format consists of a 30-minute didactic lecture followed by 30 minutes of interactive cases based on material from the lecture portion. Faculty members were randomly selected to give a 60-minute lecture or a hybrid presentation. To assess short- and long-term retention, a test developed from the presenter's slides was sent to all residents approximately 15 minutes after each presentation, and again approximately 3 months later. The presenters were blinded to the survey questions. Attention was assessed by comparing the proportion of questions answered correctly from each quarter of the presentation. Equality in difficulty of questions was validated across teaching methods.

Results: For 6 hybrid presentations, 106 and 60 retention tests were submitted, answering 848 and 480 short- and long-term survey questions, respectively. For 6 lectures, 91 and 55 retention tests were submitted, answering 728 and 440 short- and long-term survey questions, respectively. Short-term retention was 75.7% (640/848) for hybrid presentations, versus 63.2% (460/728) for lectures (p < 0.0001). Long-term retention was 59.4% (285/480) for hybrid presentations, versus 49.3% (217/440) for lectures (p = 0.002). Regarding attention, 61.6% (554/600) of questions from the first 3 quarters of traditional lectures were answered correctly versus 49.3% (148/300) of final quarter questions (p = 0.0003). No significant drop-off was noted for hybrid presentations.

Conclusion: A hybrid interactive and didactic teaching format for radiology residents demonstrates better short-term retention, long-term retention, and attention when compared to traditional lectures.