Playing games during a lecture hour: experience with an online blood grouping game

IlluminationsPlaying games during a lecture hour: experience with an online blood grouping gameAnand BhaskarAnand BhaskarDepartment of Physiology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamilnadu, IndiaPublished Online:01 Sep 2014https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00006.2014MoreSectionsPDF (298 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations theory lectures are boring and sleep inducing for students, and it is difficult to get their full attention during 1 h of lecture (7). The ability of students to concentrate diminishes 20–25 min after the start of the lecture (5). There is also a lack of active participation of students during theory lectures (10). In an effort to break the monotony of the lecture, an online blood grouping game was used to engage the students during a lecture on blood groups.Description of the ActivityThe online blood grouping game (latest English version) available freely on the Nobel Prize website was used for this activity (3, 8). After a 30-min lecture on blood grouping, 100 first-year medical students were given the opportunity to play the game in the lecture hall computer. These students are equivalent to the United States undergraduate college students. The activity consisted of blood grouping followed by transfusion of the appropriate blood to a virtual patient. A few students volunteered to play the game. The remaining students watched the game projected in the lecture hall. The spectators also helped the volunteers in doing the blood grouping and transfusion correctly. Feedback on the activity was taken at the end of the session using a questionnaire (Fig. 1).Fig. 1.Questionnaire given to the students.Download figureDownload PowerPointStudent FeedbackNinety-five students completed and returned the feedback questionnarie; 97% of the students felt that the game helped in understanding the basics of blood grouping, and 95% felt that it improved their understanding of blood grouping. For 89%, the game helped in reviewing their knowledge on blood grouping; 98% recommended this activity for future batches, and 99% wanted such activities for other topics. For 91%, this activity was a relief during the lecture, and 99% felt it was fun. A compilation of student feedback is shown in Fig. 2. Students were also given the opportunity to write their own comments about the activity. Forty students (42%) gave their own comments in the questionnaire. Some of the comments were “Feeling good,” “Fantastic!!!,” “Entertaining!,” “Excellent!!!,” “Amazing and innovative idea,” “Loved it!!,” “SUPERBBB!!!,” “It was an excellent way to keep interest going,” and “It was gr8 fun to play. Learnt a lot.” There were no negative comments.Fig. 2.Compilation of student feedback.Download figureDownload PowerPointDiscussionThe feedback and comments of the students were encouraging. This game can be easily used to supplement theory lectures on blood grouping to help students in understanding the basics of blood grouping. Puzzles and card games have been developed and used effectively by educators to supplement lecture materials (1, 9). The blood grouping game could also be used as a virtual experiment before a blood group practical. The game helped students in enhancing their understanding of blood grouping and gave an opportunity for students to review their existing knowledge. Games have been used by educators to help students to review information provided previously during lectures (2, 6, 11, 12). Students were able to put their knowledge into practical use in a simulated clinical setting while playing the blood grouping game. Games have been shown to provide a fun-filled environment for students to apply the information that they have acquired from lectures (4). The results of the student feedback show that they want such activities for future batches and for other topics. The activity was fun and a relief from the routine lecture for most of the students. Activities like games are useful in breaking the monotony of didactic lectures and also to get active participation of students during the lecture. Such activities are interesting for students and can be used to get their attention during lecture.LimitationsThe game was played on a single computer available in the lecture hall. Hence, only a few student volunteers were able to play the game. However, the remaining students watched the game and helped the volunteers to correct their mistakes while playing the game. Feedback about the activity was obtained using a simple questionnaire. This offered only limited choices for the students to rate the activity. A five-level Likert scale could be used in the future for assessing the effectiveness of the activity. Student assessment for evaluating improvement in understanding of the subject or improvement in examination performance was not done. Such assessments could be done for future classes comparing one group exposed to lecture alone and the other group exposed to lecture and the blood grouping game.DISCLOSURESNo conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the author(s).AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONSAuthor contributions: A.B. conception and design of research; A.B. performed experiments; A.B. analyzed data; A.B. interpreted results of experiments; A.B. prepared figures; A.B. drafted manuscript; A.B. edited and revised manuscript; A.B. approved final version of manuscript.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe author thanks the first-year medical students of the 2013 class for participating in this activity.REFERENCES1. Bailey CM , Hsu CT , DiCarlo SE. Educational puzzles for understanding gastrointestinal physiology. Adv Physiol Educ 21: 1–18, 1999.Link | ISI | Google Scholar2. Howard MG , Collins HL , DiCarlo SE. “Survivor” torches “Who Wants to Be a Physician?” in the educational games ratings war. Adv Physiol Educ 26: 30–36, 2002.Link | ISI | Google Scholar3. Life Science Teaching Resource Community. Blood Typing - Nobel Prize Educational Game (online). https://www.lifescitrc.org/resource.cfm?submissionID=4128 [14 May 2014].Google Scholar4. Lujan HL , DiCarlo SE. Too much teaching, not enough learning: what is the solution? Adv Physiol Educ 30: 17–22, 2006.Link | ISI | Google Scholar5. Mohandas Rao KG. A midlecture student seminar: an activity to break the monotony. Adv Physiol Educ 30: 262–263, 2006.Link | ISI | Google Scholar6. Moy JR , Rodenbaugh DW , Collins HL , DiCarlo SE. Who wants to be a physician? An educational tool for reviewing pulmonary physiology. Adv Physiol Educ 24: 30–37, 2000.Link | ISI | Google Scholar7. Nayak SB. The broken lecture: an innovative method of teaching. Adv Physiol Educ 30: 48, 2006.Link | ISI | Google Scholar8. Nobelprize.org. The Blood Typing Game (online). http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/bloodtypinggame/index.html [14 May 2014].Google Scholar9. Odenweller CM , Hsu CT , DiCarlo SE. Educational card games for understanding gastrointestinal physiology. Adv Physiol Educ 20: 78–84, 1998.Link | ISI | Google Scholar10. Rao M. The rapid-response: a break during lecture. Adv Physiol Educ 30: 95, 2006.Link | ISI | Google Scholar11. Rodenbaugh DW , Collins HL , Dicarlo SE. Creating a simple Powerpoint multimedia game. Adv Physiol Educ 26: 342–343, 2002.Link | ISI | Google Scholar12. Zakaryan V , Bliss R , Sarvazyan N. Non-trivial pursuit of physiology. Adv Physiol Educ 29: 11–14, 2005.Link | ISI | Google ScholarAUTHOR NOTESAddress for reprint requests and other correspondence: A. Bhaskar, Dept. of Physiology, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632002, Tamilnadu, India (e-mail: [email protected]com). 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Olimpo22 April 2016 | Advances in Physiology Education, Vol. 40, No. 2 More from this issue > Volume 38Issue 3September 2014Pages 277-278 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2014 The American Physiological Societyhttps://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00006.2014PubMed25179620History Received 13 January 2014 Accepted 22 May 2014 Published online 1 September 2014 Published in print 1 September 2014 Metrics