Tips to shape effective gamified education

Editor's Note

Gamification in perioperative education has become a popular way to engage learners in different ways, including as teams. Perioperative educators shared their tips for creating and implementing effective gamified perioperative education in the December issue of AORN Journal.

One essential goal noted was to ensure educational goals are clearly defined, such as improving team communication, advancing clinical knowledge, or preparing teams to more effectively respond to an intraoperative crisis. With a plan for what to educate on, one educator recommended creating realistic scenarios that align with the learning objectives. This can include using common perioperative challenge situations, per the article, such as managing anesthesia complications or implementing safety protocols.

For implementing a gamified learning activity, an educator suggested that when developing puzzles and challenges that require critical thinking and problem-solving to achieve specific learning goals, the educator should consider the flow of introducing the puzzles and challenges within the learning activity. The goal, she shared, is to introduce the challenges in a progressive way that increases complexity and serves to also maintain learner engagement.

She recommended creating a way for learners to share feedback so educators can continue refining the learning activity and also apply this knowledge to future gamified perioperative learning activities.