An Exploratory Digital Board Game Approach to the Review and Reinforcement of Complex Medical Subjects Like Anatomical Education: Cross-sectional and Mixed Methods Study.

Jun Wen Tan,Kian Bee Ng,Sreenivasulu Reddy Mogali

doi:10.2196/33282

Abstract

BackgroundSerious games have the potential to resolve educational problems faced by medical students, such as insufficient rehearsal due to boredom and lack of motivation. However, serious games’ relatively novel concepts in science and many genres of games that are common in recreation remain underresearched in the literature. Board games are one such genre that, despite their potential, affordability, and flexibility, are rarely designed for medical students, and little is known about student perceptions of them and their compatibility with rehearsal.ObjectiveIn this cross-sectional study, we sought to elicit, via an exploratory mixed methods approach, student perceptions of a digital serious board game specifically designed for the gamified rehearsal of complex medical subjects, with the chosen topic of anatomy.MethodsA digital serious board game, based on self-determination theory (SDT), was first designed and developed to facilitate the rehearsal of anatomy information. Students were then voluntarily recruited to partake in the intervention and were randomly split into three teams of 2 players per game session, after which they were administered the Flow Short Scale (FSS), which is a 13-item measure where items were rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (“not at all”) to 7 (“very much”). Students then participated in a focus group discussion to elicit their perceptions of the game. Findings from the FSS were subject to descriptive analysis, and the focus group discussion was subject to inductive thematic analysis.ResultsA total of 12 undergraduate, second-year medical students from the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore participated in the study. FSS results indicated a moderate level of overall flow (mean score 4.94, SD 1.07) via the subdomains of fluency (mean score 4.77, SD 1.13) and absorption (mean score 5.21, SD 1.1). Students perceived the game as fun, enjoyable, engaging, and appropriate as a rehearsal tool that alleviated the monotony of traditional methods of rehearsal.ConclusionsOur digital board game–based rehearsal tool, when based on SDT, appeared to be suitable for gamified rehearsal in a fun and enjoyable environment due to its facilitation of intrinsic motivation in its players.

Highlights

BackgroundModern medicine demands a skilled and adaptable workforce ready to take up an ever-expanding and increasingly complex knowledge base within constrained time frames [1,2]
We proposed an exploratory study to gauge the feasibility of a purpose-built digital serious board game, primarily based on self-determination theory (SDT) as defined by Deci and Ryan [50,51], to enhance the rehearsal of anatomy among medical students, with the overall aim of determining their attitudes and perceptions toward such an intervention
The results of the Flow Short Scale (FSS), whose items were rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (“not at all”) to 7 (“very much”), indicated a moderate degree of overall flow resulting from moderate levels of fluency of performance and absorption by activity subdomains

Summary

Introduction

BackgroundModern medicine demands a skilled and adaptable workforce ready to take up an ever-expanding and increasingly complex knowledge base within constrained time frames [1,2]. Didactic methodologies no longer suffice, leading to modern student-centered approaches, such as flipped classrooms, problem-based learning, and team-based learning [3,4,5,6]. Such methods focus on taking up novel information in place of retaining what has been learned. Objective: In this cross-sectional study, we sought to elicit, via an exploratory mixed methods approach, student perceptions of a digital serious board game designed for the gamified rehearsal of complex medical subjects, with the chosen topic of anatomy. Methods: A digital serious board game, based on self-determination theory (SDT), was first designed and developed to facilitate the rehearsal of anatomy information. Conclusions: Our digital board game–based rehearsal tool, when based on SDT, appeared to be suitable for gamified rehearsal in a fun and enjoyable environment due to its facilitation of intrinsic motivation in its players

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