Badges and Leaderboards: Gaming Innovations to Measure Population-Focused Competencies
Saturday, April 25, 2015: 11:55 AM
Key Ballroom 3-4 (Hilton Baltimore)
Natalie Baker, DNP, GNP-BC, ANP-BC, Adult and Acute Care, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham,, AL,
Aimee Chism Holland, DNP, WHNP-BC, FNP-C, RD, Adult and Acute Care, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, Donna Campbell Dunn, PhD., CNM, FNP-BC, Acute, Chronic, and Continuing Care, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, James Henry Willig, MD, MSPH, Medicine - Infectious Diseases, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL and Nancy Wingo, PhD(c), MA, School of Nursing, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Abstract:
Gamification in education can shape learners’ experiences by offering cognitive challenges, social interaction, and opportunities for personal growth in safe learning environments (Lee & Hammer, 2011). Initiating games in distance-accessible courses can also motivate students to explore course content and engage with their peers (Muntean, 2011). The authors recognized a gap in student interaction among peers in distance-accessible courses in nurse practitioner specialty tracks. They sought to capitalize on this opportunity to increase student engagement via the adaption of Kaizen-IM ®, a gamification infused platform for education content delivery employing a quiz format.
Students answered discipline-specific questions, earned team points and badges according to their performance, and received answer rationales as feedback. Students in some courses were required to participate in group discussion boards before answering questions, while other courses offered optional participation in games for supplemental learning opportunities. In all courses, quiz questions were mapped to course and program objectives to measure student achievement of population-focused competencies. The authors will discuss lessons learned in using games in distance education, impacts on peer engagement and teamwork, mapping questions to essential competencies, and the impact of different implementation strategies (mandatory vs. optional participation) on utilization and engagement.
