** Poster Award Nominee

Evaluation of a serious gaming/immersion environment to teach clinical cancer genetics to medical students

Thomas M. Nosek^1*, Mark Cohen^1,2, Anne Matthews¹, Klara Papp¹, Nancy Wolf^1,2, Gregg Wrenn¹, Andrew Sher¹, Kenneth Coulter¹, Jessica Martin¹, Georgia L. Wiesner^1,2; ¹Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, ²University Hospitals/Case Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, 44106 U.S.A.

Purpose

CWRU faculty created a web-based, interactive, simulated “Tower of Learning” for the self-paced study of Clinical Cancer Genetics

(http://casemed.case.edu/cancergenetics). We conducted a pilot test of the first three floors of the 13-floor Tower by 17 medical students.

Methods

The Tower was created in Flash and uses a SQL database to record student progress.  Students must achieve specific learning objectives, participate in various activities, and adequately answer multiple choice questions to progress through the Tower.  The first floors contain virtual laboratories where students study the basic underpinnings of Cancer Genetics.  The next levels apply these principles to clinical practice.  Four virtual patients and an attending physician enrich each floor.  The pinnacle clinical simulation challenges the learner to integrate information and demonstrate mastery, thus “winning” the game. 

Results

The pilot test yielded very favorable feedback via anonymous questionnaire; the students found the Tower a “great way to teach”, it held their attention, and it made learning fun. They found it easy to navigate through the environment and enjoyed the wide variety of activities designed to help them achieve the learning objectives.  A majority preferred the Tower to other learning resources.

Conclusion/Future Directions

Students are favorably attuned to using a simulated, serious gaming environment to learn difficult material.  Students matriculating in 2007 will use the Tower as a major learning resource.   We will determine whether the self-paced, simulated Tower is more effective (comparing standardized test scores) than the lecture and small group formats used in the past. (Support: PHS, NCI R25 CA092357-01A2)