Gamified Learning among Medical Undergraduates using Digital Platforms: A Quasiexperimental Study

Gamified learning in medical education involves using game elements to improve learning behaviors and outcomes. Digital gamification is underexplored in community medicine. We aimed to assess students' perceptions about gamified learning and their preference for individual or team-based participation, and compare the user experience between different digital platforms.

We conducted this one-group posttest-only quasiexperimental study at a medical college in North India. We included students of Phase II and Phase III part 1 MBBS who had attended at least one gamified learning session of community medicine during the study period. We utilized six platforms per batch to deliver electronic quizzes for team-based (Classmarker and Nearpod) or individual participation (Formative, Google Forms, Quizizz, and Slido). We sought feedback using semistructured questionnaires. We used Jamovi version 2.3 for descriptive and inferential statistics. We performed manual inductive thematic analysis involving semantic-level coding of complete response units for qualitative data.

All 292 respondents (Phase II: 143; Phase III part 1: 149) attended at least three gamified learning sessions. Over 75% of the participants perceived gamification favorably across all parameters. Phase II students showed significantly higher favorability for perceived increase in interest (92.3% vs. 81.9%, P = 0.001) and engagement (87.4% vs. 83.2%, P = 0.003). Only 26.4% of students preferred team-based participation, with a higher preference in the junior batch (35.7% vs. 17.6%, P < 0.001). Formative and Slido received the highest median scores (9/10).

Gamified learning is a well-received adjunct to traditional medical pedagogy.