Successful lecturing - A prospective study to validate attributes of the effective medical lecture

OBJECTIVE: In a study conducted over 3 large symposia on intensive review o f internal medicine, we previously assessed the features that were most imp ortant to course participants in evaluating the quality of a lecture. In th is study, we attempt to validate these observations by assessing prospectiv ely the extent to which ratings of specific lecture features would predict the overall evaluation of lectures. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: After each lecture, 143 to 355 course partic ipants rated the overall lecture quality of 69 speakers involved in a large symposium on intensive review of internal medicine. In addition, 7 selecte d participants and the course directors rated specific lecture features and overall quality for each speaker. The relations among the variables were a ssessed through Pearson correlation coefficients and cluster analysis. Regr ession analysis was performed to determine which features would predict the overall lecture quality ratings. The features that most highly correlated with ratings of overall lecture quality were the speaker's abilities to ide ntify key points (r = .797) and be engaging (r = .782), the lecture clarity (r = .754), and the slide comprehensibility (r = .691) and format (r = .66 0). The three lecture features of engaging the audience, lecture clarity, a nd using a case-based format were identified through regression as the stro ngest predictors of overall lecture quality ratings (R-2 = 0.67, P = 0.0001 ). CONCLUSIONS: We have identified core lecture features that positively affec t the success of the lecture. We believe our findings are useful for lectur ers wanting to improve their effectiveness and for educators who design con tinuing medical education curricula.