Learning through play: Educators and students reflect on a gamified assessment

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Educational Technology

Background:

• Gamification in higher education is increasingly popular, especially in health professions.
• There is limited research on educator and student experiences with gamified assessments.
• This paper examines a new gamified assessment in an undergraduate medical imaging and therapeutic sciences program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore educator and student experiences with a newly integrated gamified assessment.
• To evaluate the potential of gamified assessments as a tool in higher education.
• To gather insights for improving gamified assessment design and implementation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Gibbs Reflective Cycle for reflection among two educators and two students.
• The study involved four participants from a single research site.
• The Gibbs Reflective Cycle included description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action planning.

Main Results:

• Educators and students shared similar perspectives on the value of gamification.
• Recommendations include creating a conducive physical space for games and developing a peer evaluation rubric.
• Collaborative development of gamified assessments was highlighted.

Conclusions:

• Gamified assessments show potential to boost student engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes.
• The study highlights the value of a collaborative and reflective approach in gamified assessment development.
• Findings can inform gamified assessment design in other health professions and academic fields.