Proof of Concept: Game-Based Mobile Learning—The First Experience With the App Actionbound as Case-Based Geocaching in Education of Veterinary Neurology

Abstract

Case-based learning is a valuable tool to impart various problem-solving skills in veterinary education and stimulate active learning. Students can solve imaginary cases without the need for contact with real patients. Case-based teaching can be well performed as asynchronous remote-online class. In time of the COVID-19-pandemic, many courses in veterinary education are provided online. Therefore, students report certain fatigue when it comes to desk-based online learning. The app “Actionbound” provides a platform to design digitally interactive scavenger hunts based on global positioning system (GPS)—called “bounds” —in which the teacher can create a case study with an authentic patient via narrative elements. This app was designed for multimedia-guided museum or city tours initially. The app offers the opportunity to send the students to different geographic localizations for example in a park or locations on the University campus, like geocaching. In this way, students can walk outdoors while solving the case study. The present article describes the first experience with Actionbound as a tool for mobile game-based and case-orientated learning in veterinary education. Three veterinary neurology cases were designed as bounds for undergraduate students. In the summer term 2020, 42 students from the second to the fourth year of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover worked on these three cases, which were solved 88 times in total: Cases 1 and 2 were each played 30 times, and case 3 was played 28 times. Forty-seven bounds were solved from students walking through the forest with GPS, and 41 were managed indoors. After each bound, students evaluated the app and the course via a 6-point numerical Likert rating scale (1 = excellent to 6 = unsatisfactory). Students playing the bounds outdoors performed significantly better than students solving the corresponding bound at home in two of the three cases (p = 0.01). The large majority of the students rated the course as excellent to good (median 1.35, range 1–4) and would recommend the course to friends (median 1.26, range 1–3). Summarizing, in teaching veterinary neurology Actionbound's game-based character in the context of outdoor activity motivates students, might improve learning, and is highly suitable for case-based learning.

A Proposal for an Immersive Scavenger Hunt-Based Serious Game in Higher Education

“…Many software applications were also found, both for mobiles (e.g., [44], [46], and [40]) and platforms for general use (e.g., Quizizz [34] and WebQuest [35], [41]). In [33], where the students can play outdoors or at home, the former performed significantly better. This is the option here, that the students must move around during the game.…”

“…Papers not concerning the educational environment can also be found, e.g., [31] and [32]. The second most important goal addressed is to learn or promote the learning of a concrete concept or lesson (e.g., [33], [34], [35], and [36]), normally including questions related to these concepts in the SH tasks. The SH is also used as a socialization tool, usually for first year students [29], [30], [37], but also to improve collaborative skills [38], [39].…”

“…The results cannot be generalized yet, as the evaluation was carried out in our university only. However, given the nature of the proposal and the profile of the participants, it is believed that the results can be extrapolated to similar sociocultural and educational conditions, but also to different ones, since the literature shows the successful use of SH in completely different cultural and educational environments [33], [34], [41], [43], [60], [61].…”

Desarrollo de competencias digitales a través del aprendizaje activo en contextos universitarios con ambientes m-learning

“…Cabe indicar que un aspecto importante del uso de las aplicaciones móviles aplicadas a estudios de caso es que no solo se queda en la práctica educativa en la que el estudiante asume un rol activo, sino que en algunos casos también son utilizadas luego para la práctica profesional (Baccin et al, 2020;Danielson et al, 2021), generando de esta manera un aprendizaje continuo y apoyando la toma de decisiones en el campo de acción.…”

“…Competencias digitales y dispositivos móviles (Antee, 2021;Apostolov & Milenkova, 2018;Blayone et al, 2018;Chib & Wardoyo, 2018;Elphick, 2018;Hanbidge et al, 2018;Krasulia & Saks, 2020;Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes;Gaved, Mark;Paletta, Lucas;Scanlon, Eileen;Jones, Ann and Brasher, 2015;León-Pérez et al, 2020;Mac Callum et al, 2014;Torres-Coronas & Vidal-Blasco, 2015), y; c) Metodologías de aprendizaje activo con dispositivos móviles (Baccin et al, 2020;Chávez Saavedra & Hidalgo Valadez, 2016;Cheung, 2013;Christopoulos et al, 2022;Danielson et al, 2021;Fernandez Serrano, 2019;Gutiérrez Valencia et al, 2018;Hasan et al, 2017;Javed & Odhabi, 2019;Knoblauch, 2022;K.-Y. Lin & Teng, 2018;Ramadhan et al, 2020;Sugiyanto et al, 2020;Torres Taborda et al, 2021;Yengui & Stechert, 2021) .…”