It is widely acknowledged that digital games can provide an engaging, motivating and “fun” experience for students. However an entertaining game does not necessarily constitute a meaningful, valuable learning experience. For this reason, experts espouse the importance of underpinning serious games with a sound theoretical framework which integrates and balances theories from two fields of practice: pedagogy and game design (Kiili, 2005; Seeney & Routledge, 2009). Additionally, with the advent of sophisticated, immersive technologies, and increasing interest in the opportunities for constructivist learning offered by these technologies, concepts of fidelity and its impact on student learning and engagement, have emerged (Aldrich, 2005; Harteveld et al., 2007, 2010). This paper will explore a triadic theoretical framework for serious game design comprising play, pedagogy and fidelity. It will outline underpinning theories, review key literatures and identify challenges and issues involved in balancing these elements in the process of serious game design.

The study compares two popular forms of written tests; the multiple choice test (MCQ) and the Modified Essay Question (MEQ). Two factors were varied in the experiment: the format of the questions (multiple choice, directed free response, or open-ended free response) and the context of the questions (in a patient problem or in random sequence). Six problems were developed in each version, and administered to a total of 36 medical students at three educational levels using a Latin-square design. The results showed a significant effect of each factor in the design, amounting to a difference of 8.7% between MCQ and directed free response, 4.2% between directed and open-ended free response and 4.3% between problem and random context. However, the correlation of scores based on content across the formats approached unity after correction for attenuation. A process score, based on the style and presentation in the undirected format, correlated more strongly with the free-response questions. The results suggest that, although the MCQ and MEQ may assess different skills, there is a very strong relationship between content scores derived from the two formats. The free response formats may present the opportunity for assessment of other factors related to presentation if scoring procedures are modified. Finally, the effect of randomizing questions is a deterioration of performance when compared to placing questions in the problem context.

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A pilot study of student-prepared and student-delivered systematic lectures in the fields of community health and parasitology is reported as a novel extension of problembased learning methods. The aim of the study was to encourage interprofessional and intergroup collaboration among the students in the first year of the programmes in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Trinidad. The study shows that studentprepared and -delivered lectures retain many of the advantages of an overview lecture but also encourage the students' self-learning.When the new basic sciences course at the University of the West Indies (UWI) was planned, a decision was taken to move from the traditional didactic lecture system developed in the 1940s and '50s in Jamaica, to a problem-based, self-directed curriculum. Unlike the more established problem-based learning (PBL) systems, such as McMaster University (Neufeld & Barrows 1974), the approach taken at UWI supplements the self-directed small-group tutorial sessions with a limited number of overview lectures dealing with concepts and context. However, the importance of the students' responsibility for their own learning remains a key aim of the programme [Faculty Steering Committee (FAST) 1977; Barrows & Tamblyn 19801. In an effort to foster the goals of the development of good oral communication skills, self-directed learning, a team approach to learning and a degree of intergroup collaboration and cooperation, it was decided to use the sessions addressing the ecology of disease to develop student-researched and student-presented lectures on the major parasite diseases in the Caribbean and in the Tropics.A series of five lecture sessions, each lasting 2 hours, were used in this pilot study as an extension to the PBL curriculum. As a guide to the students regarding the expected format and content of these sessions, the first session was presented in traditional lecture style to the whole first-year class of 118 students. Thereafter, each tutorial group (five to eight students per group) was allotted a part of subsequent topics to be presented by the group to the whole class. The intention was that each student and each group would be able to see how their particular contribution linked to that of their colleagues and how it formed part of an integrated whole. Two weeks prior to the presentation, students were provided with a comprehensive guideline of the nature and content of their particular contribution. Each group was required to develop a 20-minute illustrated oral presentation and an informative printed hand-out sheet for their colleagues.Unlike the usual small-group self-directed sessions the specific objective to be presented by each group was selected by a single member of the teaching staff in order to minimize overlap between groups and to ensure that each topic was covered in sufficient breadth. However, wider reading and consultation were encouraged. The group was required to prepare all audiovisual ...