The Pros and Cons of Using Personal Response Systems in an Interactive Scientific Debate

Aims: To assess the suitability of personal response system (PRS) clickers as an audience engagement tool to make conference debates a more interactive learning experience.

Study Design: We studied the suitability of PRS to moderate and compile data on a scientific debate that was the centerpiece of an international conference. The debate explored the issues pertaining to the introduction of Genetically-Modified (GM) foods into Europe and involved a panel of some of the world's leading scientific authorities on this subject.

Methodology: 173 delegates were issued with PRS handsets and audience demography was collected immediately prior to debate commencement. The audience was polled on their opinion on the debate motion during the event and PRS was used to instantly screen poll results and changes in inter-poll opinions to the audience.

Results: (i) Pros: PRS effectively controlled debate timings, rendered the event interactive stimulating audience engagement, compiled the respondents’ opinions on GM foods and instantly screened polling results as a percent frequency histogram to the audience. The technology highlighted a clear shift in audience opinion from “Neutral” before the debate to a two-fold increase in the anti-GM group after the event which created a novel engaging experience for the delegates. (ii) Cons: Inefficient collection of the audience polling responses was observed exemplified by 36.1% of responses to poll questions not being recorded and only 10.4% of the audience submitted a full set of poll results (7 demographic multiple choice questions (MCQ) and 3 debate polls).

Conclusion: To the best of the authors’ knowledge no studies have been published to date concerning the use of PRS to facilitate an interactive debate. The immediacy of the PRS enhanced the event by prompting discussion among delegates, which would not have happened had they not known which direction other delegates were leaning on the debate question. The PRS aided in controlling the debate timings and producing instant graphical feedback but was less efficient in the collection of the complete audience dataset.