Using the "Kahoot.it" Game to Enhance Undergraduate Nursing Students' Learning

Gaming wasn’t formally included in nursing education until 75 years ago as an alternative to the traditional lecture method. Today, games as pedagogical platforms are becoming more popular in all areas of education.. These strategies engage the learner in a stimulating manner, appeal to many, and support learning. Individuals of different abilities can play together emphasizing participants’ strengths. Feedback is immediate. Group cohesiveness can develop as a result of peer cooperation and team interactions. Nevertheless, educators might be inclined not to use games for a variety of reasons. They tend to be noisy, chaotic and less controllable than lecture presentations. Producing a game and planning for potential problems is time-consuming and labor-intensive. There are articles that describe various games that an educator could use (Bensinger, 2015). However, there has been little research that lends support for game use in improving students’ knowledge level. One might ask the research question is: do undergraduate nursing students exposed to gaming in a nursing course have higher final exam scores than students who were not exposed to gaming. Although there are articles that describe various games, there are very few articles that provide empirical evidence to support use of games in the classroom (Davidson & Candy, 2016) . This quasi-experimental study addressed that gap.

Purpose:  The purpose of this study was to explore if the “kahoot.it “ game was associated with improved final exam scores with undergraduate nursing students. Kahoot.it is a free platform for learning that is engaging and fun. Players answer questions which are created by the faculty. They answer on their own devices and the lesson is shared on a screen in the classroom. Feedback is instant and the game is very competitive. Students can play in teams or as individuals. Adult Learning Theory provided the theoretical foundation for the use of gaming as a teaching strategy (Curran, 2014).

Methods: All 77 senior baccalaureate program students were enrolled in the required 15-week UG Nursing care of Children and Adolescent course. Students ranged in age from 20 to 22 years. All received the same lecture and class discussions but the research group (N=37) played Kahoot.it game in four 20 minute sessions during the semester. The control group (N=40) had no games during their classes. All students had the same final exam at the end of the semester.

Results:  Independent t-tests showed that the research group had higher test scores. (t=4.75, p=.01) than the control group.

Conclusion:  This study provided empirical evidence that gaming did make a significant difference in exam scores at the end of the course. Educators should incorporate this game strategy into their planned teaching modalities. Researchers should repeat this study with larger groups of students and test the number of games that need to be played within a single course to influence exam scores.