Using an audience response system (ARS) in a face-to-face and distance education CPT/HCPCS coding course.

We report the use of an audience response system (ARS) in an undergraduate health information management course. The ARS converts a standard PowerPoint presentation into an interactive learning system that engages students in active participation, and it allows instructors to display questions, surveys, opinion polls, and games. We used the ARS in a 2008 course, Health Services Coding, for lecture and test reviews. The class consisted of 15 students; nine were on-campus students and six were distance education students. All of the responding students agreed that the ARS software facilitated learning and made lectures and reviews more interesting and interactive, and they preferred taking a class using an ARS.