A gaming approach to learning medical microbiology: students’ experiences of flow

Abstract

Background: There is a growing awareness in medical education of general skills¹ required for lifelong learning. Such skills are best achieved when students experience positive affective states while they are learning, as put forth by the Csikszentmihalyian theory of flow. This study describes how a quiz-type board game was used in the School of Medicine of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State to address students' negativity towards medical microbiology.

Methods: The study population consisted of third-year medical students who had recently completed the Infections module of the undergraduate Learning Programme for Professional Medicine.

Results: Data gathered by means of two questionnaire surveys and direct observation showed that the game impacted positively on students' perceptions of and attitudes towards medical microbiology as a subject. A high perceived probability of the game contributing to the acquisition of general skills was recorded, since the experience of positive affect during the process of informal learning went hand-in-hand with heightened team effort and spontaneous communication.

Conclusions: This article may be of value to health educators who wish to supplement formal teaching with informal learning so as to enhance not only the recall of factual knowledge, but also the advancement of general skills.

Notes

Notes

1. General skills embrace abilities that are essential for academic and work-related success, such as competence in communication, team work, negotiation and problem solving.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adriana A. Beylefeld

A. A. BEYLEFELD is head of the Division of Student Learning and Development and leader of a module on general skills for first-year students in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State.

Magdalena C. Struwig

M. C. STRUWIG has been a medical scientist in the Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine, and is currently a PhD student in the Health Professions Education Programme in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State.