Examining Student Motivation to Use a Gamified System in an Immunology and Immunization Training Course

An Escape Game on University Students' Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cocreation Study

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on students' mental health. Interventions are needed to promote their psychological well-being and prevent mental illnesses in the aftermath of this unprecedented situation. Digital escape games can be an effective tool to support students' mental health. A cocreation approach can improve the acceptability of these interventions by involving different stakeholders (eg, end users, game designers, and health professionals) to obtain audience-specific games.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to describe the process of testing and optimizing the game "EscapeCovid" on students' mental health, to serve as a model for the cocreation of future similar interventions.

METHODS

The PRODUCES (Problem, Objective, Design, End Users, Cocreators, Evaluation, Scalability) framework was used. Cocreation steps (test and optimization) were detailed for replicability. A total of 45 students tested a pilot version of the game, with 10 undergoing a semistructured interview. Meetings with a group of stakeholders and brainwriting were organized to optimize the game.

RESULTS

We produced a new version of the game incorporating the suggestions provided by student testers and following the stakeholders' guidelines. Improvements were made to both the content and the form of the new version of the pilot game. The storyline, including the protagonist and the scenes, was adapted to the student population.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggested that cocreation can contribute to the design of more widely accepted interventions aimed at promoting mental health and preventing psychological disorders. Results also suggest that an end user-centered approach can facilitate intervention tailoring. When conceiving a health-related escape game for students, we recommend using the cocreation approach to enhance players' experience, thus positively influencing their learning process and overall well-being.

Gamification in pharmacy education: a systematic quantitative literature review

OBJECTIVES

Gamification involves applying game attributes to non-game contexts and its educational use is increasing. It is essential to review the outcomes and the efficacy of gamification to identify evidence to support its use in pharmacy education.

THIS ARTICLE

systematically and quantitatively reviews and evaluates the alignment of learning outcomes and the quality of peer-reviewed literature reporting gamification in pharmacy education.

KEY FINDINGS

A literature search was undertaken in February 2022 using CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, Science Direct, Scopus and ERIC databases, via keywords (game* OR gaming OR gamif*) AND pharmac* AND education. Google Scholar was searched using 'gamification of pharmacy education' and 'serious games in pharmacy education'. Data extracted included type of gamified intervention, mode of delivery, game fidelity, intended learning outcomes and outcomes reported. Quality assessments aligned with key aspects of the SQUIRE-EDU Reporting Guidelines. Of 759 abstracts and 95 full-text papers assessed, 66 articles met the inclusion criteria. They described gamification from 12 countries in the education of 8272 pharmacy and health professional students. Gamified interventions ranged from board games to immersive simulations, with escape rooms most frequently reported. Reporting quality was inconsistent, with observed misalignment between intended learning outcomes and outcomes reported, an apparent overreliance on student perceptions as primary data and a lack of reference to reporting guidelines.

SUMMARY

Gamification is included in the curricula of many pharmacy degrees, across multiple subject areas. This review identified evidence gaps and reinforces the need for improved quality of gamification research, critical alignment of learning outcomes with evaluation, and use of reporting guidelines.

Game-Based Learning in Pharmacy Education

Game-based learning (GBL) involves adding game elements to non-game activities to encourage engagement. Pharmacy curricula are required to incorporate active learning to meet accreditation standards. The literature supports that well-designed GBL holds the attention of students and improves knowledge in some instances. Furthermore, these adaptable experiences can be leveraged for a variety of content areas in pharmacy education. Some activities utilized by educators require large amounts of technological expertise, while others involve minimal use of technology. The incorporation of technology can create highly immersive experiences for learners; however, there are barriers (e.g., financial and technology prowess) to implementation compared to simpler designs. One area of GBL that is not well defined in the literature is how to adequately assess student learning outcomes. Most current studies describe subjective attitudes and confidence or assess content knowledge through objective pre- and post-tests. In the future, more defined and connected methods for assessment—such as active demonstrations within the game—will be needed to better incorporate GBL into pharmacy curricula. Based on the collective evidence in the literature, some GBL activities may serve as useful tools to improve pharmacy student engagement and learning.