Using Serious Game Techniques with Health Sciences and Biomedical Engineering Students: An Analysis Using Machine Learning Techniques

The use of serious games on virtual learning platforms as a learning support resource is increasingly common. They are especially effective in helping students acquire mainly applied curricular content. However, a process is required to monitor the effectiveness and students’ perceived satisfaction....

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sáiz Manzanares, María Consuelo, Marticorena Sánchez, Raúl, Escolar Llamazares, María del Camino, González Díez, Irene, Velasco Saiz, Rut
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Burgos (UBU)
Repositorio:Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos (RIUBU)
OAI Identifier:oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/10274
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10259/10274
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Serious games
Machine learning
Learning monitoring
Branching scenario
Tecnología
Informática
Psicología
Enseñanza superior
Technology
Computer science
Psychology
Education, Higher
Descripción
Sumario:The use of serious games on virtual learning platforms as a learning support resource is increasingly common. They are especially effective in helping students acquire mainly applied curricular content. However, a process is required to monitor the effectiveness and students’ perceived satisfaction. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify the most significant characteristics; (2) determine the most relevant predictors of learning outcomes; (3) identify groupings with respect to the different serious game activities; and (4) to determine students’ perceptions of the usefulness of the simple and complex serious game activities. We worked with a sample of 130 university students studying health sciences and biomedical engineering. The serious game activities were applied in a Moodle environment, UBUVirtual, and monitored using the UBUMonitor tool. The degree type and the type of serious game explained differing percentages of the variance in the learning results in the assessment tests (34.4%—multiple choice tests [individual assessment]; 11.2%—project performance [group assessment]; 25.6%—project presentation [group assessment]). Different clusters were found depending on the group of students and the algorithm applied. The Adjusted Rang Index was applied to determine the most appropriate algorithm in each case. The student satisfaction was high in all the cases. However, they indicated complex serious games as being more useful than simple serious games as learning resources for the practical content in both health sciences and biomedical engineering degrees.