The development of an online serious game for oral diagnosis and treatment planning: evaluation of knowledge acquisition and retention

BACKGROUND: While serious games seem to be supportive in healthcare education, none of them had been designed to develop competence in diagnosis and treatment planning of oral lesions. Therefore, this research aimed to develop an online simulation-based serious game for training diagnosis and treatment planning of oral lesions (SimOL) and to evaluate its educational impact in terms of knowledge improvement and retention. METHODS: As a mandatory task in an oral lesion course, all 28 students were required to participate in SimOL activities. Participants were instructed to complete a pre-knowledge assessment following a one-week washout period prior to the game activity. Subsequent to the game completion, they were tasked to complete a post-knowledge assessment I (Full score = 15) and satisfaction questionnaire. A post-knowledge assessment II was administered a week later to evaluate knowledge retention. RESULTS: The findings demonstrated a significant increase in the assessment scores after interacting with the game (P < 0.001), where the pre- and immediate post-knowledge assessment scores were 8.00 (SD = 2.11) and 11.71 (SD = 2.39), respectively. The game also exhibited a positive impact on knowledge retention, as there was no significant difference between the scores of post-knowledge assessment I and II (P > 0.05). Additionally, students perceived the game as positively in all aspects, although the entertainment aspect achieved a slightly lower score of 3.70 (SD = 0.21), in comparison to the usefulness and ease of use with a score of 4.02 (SD = 0.11) and 4.02 (SD = 0.16), respectively. CONCLUSION: SimOL demonstrated its potential as an effective learning tool for improving and retaining knowledge for diagnosis and treatment planning of oral lesions. The game was perceived positively by dental students in all aspects, however further improvements should prioritize the enhancement of entertaining components.