Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Efficacy and Usability in the Design
of a Pharmacy Education Game
Geoffrey Hookham
1
, Joyce Cooper
2
, Rohan Rasiah
2
,
Hayley Croft
2
, and Keith Nesbitt
1
1
School of Design, Communication and IT, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
{Geoffrey.Hookham,Keith.Nesbitt}@newcastle.edu.au
2
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
{Joyce.Cooper,Rohan.Rasiah,Hayley.Croft}@newcastle.edu.au
Abstract.
This study introduces a puzzle game called the 'Virtual Dispensary'
that was developed to assist in teaching dispensing skills to first year pharmacy
students. We describe the key game elements and reports on initial findings
from a study of the usability and effectiveness of the game.
Keywords:
Engagement, Gamification, Pharmacy, Usability, Efficacy.
1
Introduction
Throughout history, games have been used to educate, train, inform and distract [1].
As of 2014 there is a groundswell of enthusiasm surrounding the 'engaging' nature of
computer games and the potential to leverage this engagement for more 'effective'
education [2]. This motivates a number of research questions around serious games
about what is engagement, how to measure effectiveness and the role of usability in
ensuring games meet there serious intention.
The game described in this study, the Virtual Dispensary, was developed to assist
teaching dispensing skills to first year Pharmacy students. We take an iterative ap-
proach to creating the Virtual Dispensary, developing and evaluating game prototypes
to ensure we meet the expected educational directions of the serious game and also
ensuring that key usability issues that might detract from engagement are identified
early in the development process. We report here on some of the key design elements
integrated into the game and report on a first usability trial with a representative sam-
ple of students. Both the novel domain and the issues uncovered should be of interest
to all designers of serious games.
2
The Virtual Dispensary
The online Virtual Dispensary provides pharmacy students with an exploratory space
that allows the students to practice typical forensic skills related to prescribing medi-
cations. A single play session of the game requires the student to solve a quiz that
