Abstract:

Objective To explore the application effect of a digital game in learning medical terminology for nursing undergraduates. Methods A digital learning game based on the WeChat applet was designed to organize the medical terminology base，break down the learning tasks into levels of different difficulty and progress，present them in the form of text，voice，pictures，and animation，and set up instant feedback and reward mechanisms such as achievement badges，experience values and leaderboards. A total of 90 nursing undergraduates were recruited and were randomly divided into 3 groups with 30 students in each group. These groups shared same learning content. In teaching method，the first group employed WeChat applet（digital game），while the second group learned through an online platform，and the third group applied a paper version of the learning materials to study on their own. Participants in three groups were required to learn medical terminology for at least 30 min per day for 1 month. The terminology test was administered to the students before，after，and 3 weeks after the intervention. At 3 weeks post-intervention，the first group’s evaluation and satisfaction with the digital game were investigated. Results Students’ medical terminology test scores were analyzed by repeated-measures ANOVA cross-effects（F=32.591，P<0.001）. Simple effect analysis showed that the scores of the first group were higher than those in the second and third groups after the intervention and 3 weeks after the intervention （P<0.05），while difference between the scores of the second and third groups was not statistically significant（P>0.05）. The students were satisfied with the digital games and evaluated its effect as good. Conclusion Digital games can enhance learners’ understanding and memory of medical terminology，which can be used as an auxiliary tool for nursing undergraduates’ medical terminology learning.

Key words: Medical terminology, Digital games, Undergraduate nursing students