Abstract
IntroductionAlthough continuing medical education (CME) presentations are common across health professions, it is unknown whether slide design is independently associated with audience evaluations of the speaker. Based on the conceptual framework of Mayer’s theory of multimedia learning, this study aimed to determine whether image use and text density in presentation slides are associated with overall speaker evaluations.MethodsThis retrospective analysis of six sequential CME conferences (two annual emergency medicine conferences over a three-year period) used a mixed linear regression model to assess whether post-conference speaker evaluations were associated with image fraction (percentage of image-based slides per presentation) and text density (number of words per slide).ResultsA total of 105 unique lectures were given by 49 faculty members, and 1,222 evaluations (70.1% response rate) were available for analysis. On average, 47.4% (SD=25.36) of slides had at least one educationally-relevant image (image fraction). Image fraction significantly predicted overall higher evaluation scores [F(1, 100.676)=6.158, p=0.015] in the mixed linear regression model. The mean (SD) text density was 25.61 (8.14) words/slide but was not a significant predictor [F(1, 86.293)=0.55, p=0.815]. Of note, the individual speaker [χ2(1)=2.952, p=0.003] and speaker seniority [F(3, 59.713)=4.083, p=0.011] significantly predicted higher scores.ConclusionThis is the first published study to date assessing the linkage between slide design and CME speaker evaluations by an audience of practicing clinicians. The incorporation of images was associated with higher evaluation scores, in alignment with Mayer’s theory of multimedia learning. Contrary to this theory, however, text density showed no significant association, suggesting that these scores may be multifactorial. Professional development efforts should focus on teaching best practices in both slide design and presentation skills.
Highlights
Continuing medical education (CME) presentations are common across health professions, it is unknown whether slide design is independently associated with audience evaluations of the speaker
Professional development efforts should focus on teaching best practices in both slide design and presentation skills. [West J Emerg Med. 2017;18(1)152-158.]
We analyzed a total of 105 unique presentations given by 49 faculty members from three High Risk emergency medicine (EM) (HREM) and three Topics in EM (TEM) continuing medical education (CME) conferences (2010-2012)
Summary
Continuing medical education (CME) presentations are common across health professions, it is unknown whether slide design is independently associated with audience evaluations of the speaker. Alley et al refined Mayer’s design principles to the specific demands of scientific presentations.[4] Key tenets include replacing text with visual representations of the evidence and reducing the number of words on a slide, while the presenter tells the story Presentations using these principles have been shown to improve retention and transfer of new knowledge.[5,6,7] such multimedia design principles are supported by established theoretical underpinnings and empirical learning experiments, relevant published studies primarily involved undergraduate and medical students in controlled laboratory or classroom learning environments.[5,6,7,8] No research has yet determined whether these principles are generalizable to adult learners in the setting of CME conferences
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