The Use of Gamification as a Teaching Strategy for Embryology

Abstract

Several strategies based on active methodologies have been used to teach content in courses in the health area, in this context, the use of games aimed at education become valuable resources. This study is characterized as a quasi-experimental modality of quantitative approach and aimed to evaluate the performance of medical students in relation to the contents of embryology, compared to the use of a board game. The study was carried out in a Brazilian higher education institution. 245 medical students enrolled from the 1st to the 8th of the medical course participated in the research. The research participants answered a pre-intervention questionnaire with content referring to the embryological period of development. After the activity, the same questionnaire was made available to the students (post-intervention). Statistical analysis was performed using the GraphPad Prism software, using the D'Agostino & Pearson and Shapiro-Wilk normality tests, subsequently opting for the Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis statistical test for non-existent data. parametric and Student's T and ANOVA with Dunn's post-test for parametric data. Better results were observed in the post-intervention questionnaire for the participating classes, favorably pointing to the use of this teaching strategy, focused on embryology.