Improving Student Engagement in Nursing Education through Game-Based Learning

Abstract

Educators have identified that engaging nursing students in their education increase retention rates in nursing education programs. As a pedagogical tool, using game-based learning activities allowed educators to create student-centered active learning opportunities to increase the engagement of the nursing student. The problem was that the effect of adding game-based learning to traditional lectures on student engagement behaviors in undergraduate nursing classes was unknown. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine how adding game-based learning to traditional lectures affected student engagement behaviors in undergraduate nursing classes. The theoretical framework was based on the theory of Constructivism, which is the concept that students are lifelong learners who prefer to take an active role in their education. The research questions for this study explored the relationship and effect of adding game-based learning activities to traditional teaching methods and an improved student engagement level in nursing students. A Pearson Correlation Coefficient test was performed to monitor the correlation between the addition of game-based learning and improved student engagement for the quantitative section of this study. For the qualitative portion, in-person interviews were conducted with the participants, and a codebook was created to identify themes for final analysis. A convenience sample was used to recruit participants in a Bachelor of Nursing undergraduate entry level nursing course, resulting in 47 out of 72 students agreeing to participate. Quantitative findings from the study revealed that there was a minimal correlation between adding game-based learning activities to traditional teaching methods and improved engagement in nursing students. The qualitative analysis discovered that students preferred game-based activities. The participants found that the combination of both game-based activities and traditional teaching methods increased their enjoyment of the course and improved their engagement. The quantitative analysis did not find a strong relationship between adding game-based learning activities and increased student engagement. The findings suggested that student engagement in nursing education improved when game-based learning was combined with traditional teaching methods. This finding can potentially improve nursing education by providing educators with another pedagogical method to create a more active learning environment for nursing students to improve their engagement.

Keywords:Nurse education, game-based learning, student engagement, engagement.

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/13-12-04

Publication date:June 30^th 2023