A gamified resource for learning anatomy terminology aids retention

A card game, "Hold your Nerve," was developed to aid memorization of anatomy terminology in small-group learning formats. Each of the 719 cards consisted of an anatomical term and its definition. To play, a student blindly holds a card so as to block the definition but display the term to the group, who must provide verbal/physical clues to help the student guess the term. The group can request the definition to be revealed to aid clue generation. Students take turns being the guesser and assess progress by the number of successfully guessed words, with and without clues. Guesser or group performance can be compared to introduce a competitive element. The game was tested with 38-second-level students at Queen's University Belfast. Institutional ethical approval and informed consent were obtained prior to the study. Students completed a pre-test and then were assigned to a nonplaying group or a group that played the game in groups of 3-6 for 20 minutes. Both groups completed a post-test and evaluation survey. Playing groups had an average improvement of 9.1% and 5.1% in sessions 1 and 2, respectively, whereas nonplaying groups showed changes of 4.1% and -1.4%. Only the improvement in scores in the playing groups was significant (session 1 p = 0.031, session 2 p = 0.047). All agreed the game was helpful for revising lecture content; 95% agreed it would be a useful addition to their studies, and 97% enjoyed playing the game. An e-copy of the cards can be requested from the corresponding author.