Effectiveness of Educational Games as Teaching Tool on Learning Outcome of Critical Care Drugs and Investigations among Nursing Students at Selected College, Chennai

Sasikala. A¹, Sasikala Dakshinamoorthy²

¹Lecturer, Apollo College of Nursing, Chennai.

²Reader, Apollo College of Nursing, Chennai.

*Corresponding Author E-mail:

ABSTRACT:

Background: The traditional method used in teaching has lowest retention rate, the use of game as part of an instructions method may enhance retention and reinforce learning by creating a dynamic educational environment. Objective: 1. To assess the learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations among control and experimental group of nursing students. 2. To determine the effectiveness of educational games as teaching tool by comparing the pretest and posttest scores of learning outcome on critical care drugs and investigations among control and experimental group of nursing students. Methodology: This study was conducted by using a true experimental research design among 88 nursing students (44 in control group and 44 in experimental group), who were selected by using purposive sampling technique. After obtaining the setting permission, Data was collected by self administration method using Google forms through Whats App and E mails. The data regarding background variables was obtained along with the pretest assessment of learning outcome on critical care drugs and investigations through Google forms. Then post test was conducted for the control group of nursing students on day 3. On day 4, educational games was implemented for the experimental group of nursing students and On day 5 post test was conducted for the experimental group of nursing students. The collected data was tabulated and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: In control group there was a significant difference in mean learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations between pre-test (M = 7.61/25 & SD = 2.29) and post-test (M = 10.86/25 and SD=4.75) with ‘t’ value of 4.73 at p<0.001. Whereas in experimental group also there was higher significant difference in mean learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations between pretest (M = 7.7/25 and SD = 2.63) and post-test (M = 18.97/25 and SD = 2.17) with ‘t’ value of 25.26 at p< 0.001. Conclusion: Study findings showed that the educational games was found to be effective in increasing the learning outcome of nursing students.

KEYWORDS: Educational games, Learning outcome, Critical care drugs, Investigations, Nursing students.

INTRODUCTION:

The closures of the educational institutions due to the outbreak of COVID-19 lead to an unprecedented impact on education. During the lockdown, teachers are instructed to teach through online learning platforms argued that there is a need to adopt innovative teaching for continuing education and to overcome mental stress and anxieties during the lockdown. The outbreak of COVID-19 results in the digital revolution in the higher education system through online lectures, teleconferencing, digital open books, online examination, and interaction at virtual environments. During this lockdown period, the closing of educational institutions hampered the education system and the teaching-learning process. Understanding the teaching-learning process in this crisis period is imperative to design effective interventions for the smooth running of teaching and learning.¹

Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform used to review students' knowledge, for formative assessment or as a break from traditional classroom activities. The platform is among the most popular within game-based learning, with over 70 million monthly active unique users and used by 50% of US K-12 students (Lunden, 2018). As of 2019, over 2.5 billion people from more than 200 countries have played Kahoot.²

The use of educational games in Critical care drugs and investigations aims to promote learning, self-efficacy and confidence in clinical situations, as well as to help students to acquire skills in empathy, critical thinking, patient safety, and clinical practice. Students’ learning needs have varied due to the influence of new technologies, with games being a feasible option for getting the attention of students while achieving a deep learning of information, mainly through lab simulations or virtual serious games. The use of multimedia resources is presented to teachers as an opportunity to gain motivation-based learning fun, repetition-based learning, experience and reflection. It could be said that the implementation of educational games in nursing especially in this critical care drugs and investigations topic favors reflective practice, decision-making, new ways of thinking, acting and role-playing that helps students to understand complex concepts.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

An Experimental Study to assess the Effectiveness of Educational Games as Teaching Tool on Learning Outcome of Critical Care Drugs and Investigations among Nursing Students at Selected College, Chennai.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To assess the learning outcome on critical care drugs and investigations among control and experimental group of nursing students.

2. To determine the effectiveness of educational games as teaching tool by comparing the pretest and posttest scores of learning outcome on critical care drugs and investigations among control and experimental group of nursing students.

3. To find out the correlation between previous academic performance and learning outcome on critical care drugs and investigations in the control and experimental group of nursing students.

NULL HYPOTHESES:

H_O1 - There will be no significant difference in learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations between pretest and post test in control and experimental group of nursing students.

H_O2 - There will be no significant difference in pre and post test outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations between control and experimental group of nursing students.

H_O3 - There will be no significant correlation between the academic performance and learning outcome of critical care drugs and investigations among control and experimental group of nursing students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This study was conducted by using a true experimental research design at Apollo College of Nursing, Chennai, among 88 nursing students (44 in control group and 44 in experimental group), who were selected by using purposive sampling technique. Selected samples were allotted to control and experimental group randomly (systematic random sampling- Odd and Even method).

After obtaining the setting permission and informed consent from participants, data was collected using pretested and validated tools such as background variable proforma of nursing students, multiple choice questionnaire on critical care drugs and rating scale on level of acceptability of educational games. Data was collected by self administration method using Google forms through Whats App and E mails. The data regarding background variables was obtained along with the pretest assessment of learning outcome on critical care drugs and investigations through Google forms. Then post test was conducted for the control group of nursing students on day 3.

On day 4, educational games was implemented for the experimental group of nursing students which includes MCQ, true or false, puzzles, jumbled words, cross words, pictures and connections in critical care drugs and investigations. On day 5 post test on critical care drugs and investigations and level of acceptability on educational games was conducted for the experimental group of nursing students. The collected data was tabulated and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Majority of the nursing students were aged 21 yrs (61%, 55%), from rural area (68%, 57%) belonged to the native state of Tamil Nadu (71%, 76%), Hindus (64%, 70%) and scored distinction in previous year academic performance (59%) in control and experimental group respectively. In the pretest, more than half of the students had inadequate level of learning outcome on critical care drugs and investigations (57%, 54%) in control and experiment group respectively and 43% of the students had moderately adequate level of learning outcome in both control and experimental group. Whereas in post-test, majority of the control group students had inadequate level of learning outcome (68%), while 77% of experimental group students had adequate level of learning outcome on Critical care drugs and Investigations.

Similar findings was supported by Upendrababu.V et al, (2018) conducted a pre experimental study among 30 Nursing students at Rama college of nursing and knowledge was assessed from the sample by using structured questionnaire. The pretest knowledge was assessed on the first day and structured teaching program was given on the same day and posttest knowledge was assessed with the same tool on the fifth day of structured teaching program. The study was statistically significant at 0.001 level. The total mean post- test knowledge score (17.5) was significantly higher than the mean pretest score (11.5). Hence the study concluded that the structured teaching program was effective in imparting knowledge regarding emergency cardiac medication¹⁰.

In control group there was a significant difference in mean learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations between pre-test (M = 7.61/25 and SD = 2.29) and post-test (M = 10.86/25 and SD=4.75) with ‘t’ value of 4.73 at p<0.001. Whereas in experimental group also there was higher significant difference in mean learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations between pretest (M = 7.7/25 and SD = 2.63) and post-test (M = 18.97/25 and SD = 2.17) with ‘t’ value of 25.26 at p< 0.001. Hence, the null hypothesis Ho1 “There will be no significant difference in learning outcome on critical care drugs and investigations between pretest and post test in control and experimental group of nursing students” was rejected.

There was no significant difference in pretest mean learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations between control (M = 7.61/25 and SD = 2.29) and experimental group (M = 7.7/25 and SD = 2.63) of nursing students with ‘t’ value of 0.172 at p > 0.05. However, there was a significant difference in post-test mean learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations between control (M =10.86/25 and SD = 4.73) and experiment group (M = 18.97/25 and SD = 2.17) of nursing students with ‘t’ value of 10.29 at p < 0.001.

The above finding was consistent with the findings of Frutos et al (2019) conducted a quasi-experimental study among 116 nursing students to assess the impact of educational game on learning outcome .10 multiple-choice questions were designed, with only one possible correct answer and a 20-second-limited response time for each of the questions. The results revealed that for the students this tool was easy to use (89.6%) and they positively valued the content acquisition and comprehension, as well as the teacher-student interaction (P<0.05).So the researcher concluded that the implementation of educational games which consider response time and correct answers favors competitiveness and motivates students to actively participate in their learning process.

Findings of the present study indicated that the students who were exposed to educational games had adequate learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations than the students who did not attend the game. This can be attributed to the effectiveness of educational games as teaching tool on learning outcome of critical care drugs and investigations among nursing students.

There was significant correlation between academic performance and the learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations in control group of nursing students. Whereas there was no correlation between academic performance and the learning outcome scores on critical care drugs and investigations in experimental group of nursing students.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· The same study can be conducted on a large sample size to generalize the results.

· The same study can be conducted at different settings.

· A comparative study can be conducted between nurses and nursing students

CONCLUSION:

Therefore, from the study it can be concluded that, a game-based learning methodology can be used to foster the active participation of students and to increase competitiveness among them. Game-based learning tools not only improve the learning process and facilitate content acquisition and comprehension, also promote teacher-student interaction.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The authors have no conflict of interest.

Table.1: Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Level of Learning Outcome on Critical Care Drugs and Investigations among Control and Experimental Group of Nursing Students N=88

Level of Learning Outcome	Control group (n=44)				Experimental group (n=44)
	Pretest		Post test		Pretest		Post test
	f	%	f	%	f	%	F	%
Adequate Learning Outcome	-	-	-	-	1	3	34	77
Moderately Adequate Learning Outcome	19	43	14	32	19	43	10	23
Inadequate Learning Outcome	25	57	30	68	24	54	-	-

Table:2: Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test Mean and Standard Deviation of Learning Outcome on Critical Care Drugs and Investigations between Control and Experimental Group of Nursing Students N=88

Learning Outcome Scores	Pretest			Independent “t” and ‘p ‘value	Post Test			Independent “t” and ‘p ‘value
	Mean	SD	Mean Diff		Mean	SD	Mean Diff
Control Group (n=44)	7.61	2.29	0.1	0.172 p>0.86 N.S	10.86	4.75	7.11	10.29 p<0.001
Experimental Group (n=44)	7.7	2.63			18.97	2.17

Maximum obtainable score =25

Table 3: Correlation between Overall Academic Performance and Learning Outcome on Critical Care Drugs and Investigations between Control and Experimental Group of Nursing Students N=88

Co-relation	Control Group (44)				Experimental Group (44)
	Pre test		Post test		Pre test		Post test
Academic Performance	r value	p value	r value	p value	r value	p value	r value	p value
	0.34	0.023	0.49	0.0007	0.09	0.5612	0.16	0.299

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Received on 22.04.2021 Modified on 27.11.2021

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2022; 10(2):113-116.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2660.2022.00026