BACKGROUND

The Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation coordinates a practice-based research network for residencies. The goal of the network is to promote the competency of professional development and to help residencies better deal with common clinical problems. Joel Dickerman is the Medical Director for the Foundation. He has won the Educator of the Year from Colorado Springs Osteopathic Family Practice Residency in 1994, 1997 and 2001. He also received an Award for Excellence in Osteopathic Postdoctoral Medical Education in 2000.

THE CHALLENGE

Joel said he realized there was a need for more communication throughout his lectures, not all of the resident physicians were becoming involved in the presentations. He wanted to increase response and feedback from the participants and the capability to look at their answers on the spot, so he could then adjust his lectures based on understanding of the participants. Joel also was interested in developing an electronic lecture evaluation system and the ability to allow physicians to answer questions on case studies.

THE SOLUTION

Joel first learned about TurningPoint software on the Internet from a general search of group response systems. Once he learned more about the group response system software, TurningPoint, he realized that it would be a solution to increase lecture interactions between himself and his participants. The hardware and software grouping offered by Turning Technologies, LLC allows the ability to ask questions and immediately gather and evaluate answers with their group response system.

Joel purchased TurningPoint with a 40-seat IR ResponseCard^® input device. Joel told us that because TurningPoint allows participants to reply to questions electronically with keypads that and immediately show real-time responses, he was able to increase the level of communication and improve attentiveness through both effective and energetic group lectures. Because TurningPoint seamlessly integrates into Microsoft^® Office products, it nearly eliminates the learning curve for anyone who already knows PowerPoint^®, Excel^® and Word^®. Joel is able create interactive PowerPoint presentations quickly with the TurningPoint toolbar integrated into PowerPoint.

To date, Joel said he has used TurningPoint in resident lectures on practice management to help assess resident practice preferences by seamlessly combining instruction with evaluation. The ability to quickly identify critical participant insights has helped Joel in designing his future lectures. TurningPoint has also been used in Continuing Medical Education programs for practicing physicians to gauge understanding.

The software has also been used to gather evaluation information after a lecture. It has turned data gathered during the session into valuable information. Recognition of participants’ insights on how to better facilitate upcoming lectures and forthcoming content can be designed.

Not only has the TurningPoint group response system helped instructors, but participants also enjoy using the software and hardware. Joel said that his participants enjoyed the electronic polling of data with keypads – just for the simple fact that it saves them the time and effort of manually inputting results onto paper. Students are able to receive appropriate feedback on their understanding of lecture items. When students did not comprehend a concept the facilitator was able to instantaneously change their approach to a topic.

Joel plans on continued use of TurningPoint in the future for more case study presentations. With the group response system he plans to evaluate physician medical knowledge at the beginning of a lecture and to evaluate understanding learned during the lecture.

CONCLUSION

TurningPoint has transformed the lectures at Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation from inactive into powerful, two-way experiences with this group response system. It has given facilitators the ability to assess participant comprehension and insight, evaluate lectures, pre-plan future lectures and save time both before and during the lecture.

For more information about purchasing or renting a Turning Technologies’ audience response system for your organization, contact us at 866-746-3015.