Assessing the Impact of Gamification on Self-Directed Learning in Medical Students

Abstract

Gamification refers to the process of adding game elements to a task. Of late, this process has been introduced in pedagogical settings to capture the attention and interest of students. In our study, we apply the process to Anatomy students and assess the impact on their learning behaviour. We apply a novel path analysis to assess the change in their learning behaviour after a semester of games-enhanced small group sessions. We find that too much games could reduce their enjoyment of the underlying learning. However, we also find that students appreciate a change in the traditional model of instruction - they embraced peer-to-peer learning in the classroom.