Comparison of a novel card game and conventional case-based studying for learning urologic differential diagnoses in veterinary radiology

Abstract

Introduction: Generation of appropriate lists of differential diagnoses for various radiographic findings can be challenging for veterinary students and practicing veterinarians. Methods: In this randomized, controlled, experimental trial, an educational card game was developed to help students learn differential diagnoses associated with different radiographic renal appearances. Third-year veterinary students in an imaging class took a pretest and were then randomly assigned to either play the card game or study conventional radiographic cases to learn differential diagnoses. Participants in both groups then took a posttest and a 1-week follow-up test to assess their learning. Test performance was compared between students who played the game and those who studied radiographic cases. Results: On the immediate posttest, students who played the game scored higher than those who studied by conventional means (8.1 vs. 5.5 out of 10 possible points, P < 0.0001) and students who played the game also scored higher on the follow-up test (13.1 vs. 10.4 out of 20 possible points, P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Educational gameplay may be more beneficial than conventional case study for learning differential diagnoses. However, the relatively narrow focus of the game used in this study will prevent it from replacing conventional learning for all applications (such as lesion identification).