Abstract
BackgroundNew approaches to e-learning and the use of virtual reality technology and serious game in medical education are on the rise. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of lecture method and virtual reality-based serious gaming (VRBSG) method on students learning outcomes about the approach to coma.MethodsWe adopted a randomized trial method for this study and selected 50 medical students dividing them into experimental and control groups. Students’ learning outcome was measured with a 10-item test. Serious game usability scale was used to evaluate the usability of the serious game. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis by SPSS-22 software.ResultsStudents’ familiarity with e-learning and VRBSG was low. The mean usability of a VRBSG was 126.78 ± 10.34 out of 150. The majority of students were eager to be instructed through VRBSG. The mean score of learning outcomes in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group (t = − 2.457, P = 0.019).ConclusionStudents’ learning outcomes in the VRBSG group in the test approach to coma were significantly better than the lecture group. The usability of the serious game instruction method was high. Taken together, instruction through VRBSG had an effective role in medical students’ learning.
Highlights
New approaches to e-learning and the use of virtual reality technology and serious game in medical education are on the rise
The results of some studies show that the combination of VR technology and serious game (SG) method can increase the level of satisfaction with the learning process [16]. virtual reality-based serious gaming (VRBSG) is more effective than traditional instruction [4, 16]
The present study was the first study on the effectiveness of VRBSG method on Iranian students’ learning outcomes about the approach to coma
Summary
New approaches to e-learning and the use of virtual reality technology and serious game in medical education are on the rise. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of lecture method and virtual reality-based serious gaming (VRBSG) method on students learning outcomes about the approach to coma. One of the emerging forms of information and communication technology (ICT) is virtual reality which has many applications in elearning [3]. Mansoory et al BMC Medical Education (2021) 21:347 technology, a new instruction method that has been emphasized in many studies is the serious game (SG) [10,11,12,13]. A review of the literature showed that VR and SG have the high potential to enhance the quality of medical education and reduce some of the challenges in the conventional instruction [4]
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