A systematic review of serious games in medical education: quality of evidence and pedagogical strategy
Introduction: The literature shows an optimistic landscape for the effectiveness of games in medical education. Nevertheless, games are not considered mainstream material in medical teaching. Two research questions that arise are the following: What pedagogical strategies do developers use when crea...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2018-01-01
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| Series: | Medical Education Online |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2018.1438718 |
| _version_ | 1818489665102020608 |
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| author | Iouri Gorbanev Sandra Agudelo-Londoño Rafael A. González Ariel Cortes Alexandra Pomares Vivian Delgadillo Francisco J. Yepes Óscar Muñoz |
| author_facet | Iouri Gorbanev Sandra Agudelo-Londoño Rafael A. González Ariel Cortes Alexandra Pomares Vivian Delgadillo Francisco J. Yepes Óscar Muñoz |
| author_sort | Iouri Gorbanev |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: The literature shows an optimistic landscape for the effectiveness of games in medical education. Nevertheless, games are not considered mainstream material in medical teaching. Two research questions that arise are the following: What pedagogical strategies do developers use when creating games for medical education? And what is the quality of the evidence on the effectiveness of games? Methods: A systematic review was made by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers following the Cochrane Collaboration Guidelines. We included peer-reviewed journal articles which described or assessed the use of serious games or gamified apps in medical education. We used the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) to assess the quality of evidence in the use of games. We also evaluated the pedagogical perspectives of such articles. Results: Even though game developers claim that games are useful pedagogical tools, the evidence on their effectiveness is moderate, as assessed by the MERSQI score. Behaviourism and cognitivism continue to be the predominant pedagogical strategies, and games are complementary devices that do not replace traditional medical teaching tools. Medical educators prefer simulations and quizzes focused on knowledge retention and skill development through repetition and do not demand the use of sophisticated games in their classrooms. Moreover, public access to medical games is limited. Discussion: Our aim was to put the pedagogical strategy into dialogue with the evidence on the effectiveness of the use of medical games. This makes sense since the practical use of games depends on the quality of the evidence about their effectiveness. Moreover, recognition of said pedagogical strategy would allow game developers to design more robust games which would greatly contribute to the learning process. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:06:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-92ddb9a349e740459fc61c643d988576 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1087-2981 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:06:41Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Medical Education Online |
| spelling | doaj.art-92ddb9a349e740459fc61c643d9885762022-12-22T01:40:26ZengTaylor & Francis GroupMedical Education Online1087-29812018-01-0123110.1080/10872981.2018.14387181438718A systematic review of serious games in medical education: quality of evidence and pedagogical strategyIouri Gorbanev0Sandra Agudelo-Londoño1Rafael A. González2Ariel Cortes3Alexandra Pomares4Vivian Delgadillo5Francisco J. Yepes6Óscar Muñoz7Pontificia Universidad JaverianaPontificia Universidad JaverianaPontificia Universidad JaverianaPontificia Universidad JaverianaPontificia Universidad JaverianaPontificia Universidad JaverianaPontificia Universidad JaverianaPontificia Universidad JaverianaIntroduction: The literature shows an optimistic landscape for the effectiveness of games in medical education. Nevertheless, games are not considered mainstream material in medical teaching. Two research questions that arise are the following: What pedagogical strategies do developers use when creating games for medical education? And what is the quality of the evidence on the effectiveness of games? Methods: A systematic review was made by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers following the Cochrane Collaboration Guidelines. We included peer-reviewed journal articles which described or assessed the use of serious games or gamified apps in medical education. We used the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) to assess the quality of evidence in the use of games. We also evaluated the pedagogical perspectives of such articles. Results: Even though game developers claim that games are useful pedagogical tools, the evidence on their effectiveness is moderate, as assessed by the MERSQI score. Behaviourism and cognitivism continue to be the predominant pedagogical strategies, and games are complementary devices that do not replace traditional medical teaching tools. Medical educators prefer simulations and quizzes focused on knowledge retention and skill development through repetition and do not demand the use of sophisticated games in their classrooms. Moreover, public access to medical games is limited. Discussion: Our aim was to put the pedagogical strategy into dialogue with the evidence on the effectiveness of the use of medical games. This makes sense since the practical use of games depends on the quality of the evidence about their effectiveness. Moreover, recognition of said pedagogical strategy would allow game developers to design more robust games which would greatly contribute to the learning process.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2018.1438718Video gamesmedical educationevidence-based practicecomparative effectiveness researchreview |
| spellingShingle | Iouri Gorbanev Sandra Agudelo-Londoño Rafael A. González Ariel Cortes Alexandra Pomares Vivian Delgadillo Francisco J. Yepes Óscar Muñoz A systematic review of serious games in medical education: quality of evidence and pedagogical strategy Medical Education Online Video games medical education evidence-based practice comparative effectiveness research review |
| title | A systematic review of serious games in medical education: quality of evidence and pedagogical strategy |
| title_full | A systematic review of serious games in medical education: quality of evidence and pedagogical strategy |
| title_fullStr | A systematic review of serious games in medical education: quality of evidence and pedagogical strategy |
| title_full_unstemmed | A systematic review of serious games in medical education: quality of evidence and pedagogical strategy |
| title_short | A systematic review of serious games in medical education: quality of evidence and pedagogical strategy |
| title_sort | systematic review of serious games in medical education quality of evidence and pedagogical strategy |
| topic | Video games medical education evidence-based practice comparative effectiveness research review |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2018.1438718 |
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