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Tara Attwater, RDA, BA(Honors)
I am a Registered Dental Assistant employed at the Usask College of Dentistry.  In this role, I currently provide instruction to our Dental students and Dental Assisting students in our College.
As a student enrolled in the Masters of Health Professions Education program at University of Saskatchewan I endeavor to enhance my own learning which will enable me to provide the best possible learning experience for my students.
Feel free to contact me at tda732@usask.ca. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate!

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E-learning is a concept that has developed in edcuation as a result of innovative technologies.  The desire to implement these innovative education technologies was feuled by the Covid19 pandemic.  One such technology is Gamification which involves the implementation of gaming elements to enhance learning (vanGaalen et.al, 2021).  Follow along the pathway to discover, learn and reflect on gamification of learning in health professions edcuation.

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The following terms are often used interchangably when describing gamification but do differ in terms of the intention of the activity.

Gamification - refers to the use of game design elements in non-game contexts
Serious games - games designed using entertaining tools with the purpose of education
(Deterding et. al, 2011, vanGaalen, et.al, 2021)
Game-based learning-  refers to the pedagogical approach of utilizing games in education

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McMaster Program for Faculty Development

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MacPFD: Games, Gamification, and Serious Games for Health Professions Educators (Part One)

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Gamification of health professions edcuation

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 Premises for creating successful gamified learning environments. Arufe-Giráldez, V.

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Positives:

Opportunity for learning of many skills: analytical, decision-making, communication, psycho-motor, etc

Collaborative learning using multiplayer scenarios (Gentry et.al, 2019)

Motivational.  Gamification design includes competitive elements such as rewards to encourage use and participation

Enhance learning by integrating text, auditory and visual cues to increase retention (Byer, 2021)

Create a learner-centered environment

Skill development and experiential learning prior to exposure to real patients to increase patient safety and comfort (Gentry,et. al, 2018)

Remote learning. The digital nature allows user to choose when/where they learn.

Negatives:

Cost of creating and/or implementing gamification designs

Game design elements are a distraction instead of enhancing learning

Reduced opportunity to interact with instructors asking questions and discussions

Reduced interaction with real patients could result in poorer "bedside manner" (Gentry et. al, 2019)

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As technologies increase, the role of gamification has similarly increase. The impact of the Covid19 pandemic has put pressure on educators to design and implement strategies of E-learning. As a result, learning methods such as gamification have become more common in edcuational settings including health professions eduation with the goal to enhance students learning. Theoretically, gamification of learning accomplishes this goal by motivating learners, creating a learner-centered approach and providing easy access to learning. However, according to van Gaalan et.al, 2021) more research is necessary to evaluate and substatiate these theories. As with any technology, we must ensure that the goal of enhancing learning is achieved and we are not incorporating the technology as part of a trend with no added value to the educational experience of students.

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