Advantages of Kahoot! Game-based Formative Assessments along with Methods of Its Use and Application during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Various Live Learning Sessions

BACKGROUND: Technology has played important roles in education, thus the application of online Kahoot! Game-based technology as a learning tool particularly in formative assessments might improve learning and achieve promising education. It can be applied live, either face to face or virtual in distance learning as during the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in total shift toward online learning. METHODOLOGY: Kahoot! Game-based histology and cell biology lab formative assessments were prepared, equipped with light and electron microscopic photos, and applied for 2(nd) year undergraduate medical students. Students' engagement was evaluated by calculating number of engaged students in Kahoot! versus number of attended students in each lab. Students' satisfaction was evaluated according to students' feedback collected on Kahoot! platform and by an online questionnaire applied on Google Forms which included 5 items that were measured on a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 indicating strongly disagree and 5 indicating strongly agree, with overall satisfaction ranging between 5 (least satisfaction) and 25 (maximum satisfaction). YouTube videos were done to demonstrate and spread the idea of using Kahoot! platform in education particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Kahoot! was successfully applied in Histology and Cell Biology lab sessions. Students' engagement for Kahoot! game-based formative assessments were 100% in most lab sessions. The mean overall students' fun assessment score for Kahoot! was 4.65 out of 5. Most students recommended the use of Kahoot! game-based formative assessments. The mean overall Kahoot! questionnaire satisfaction score was 24.25 (ranging between agree and strongly agree). YouTube videos were successfully published. CONCLUSION: Kahoot! produces marked students' engagement and satisfaction in formative assessments enabling it to be applied live for any learning session either face to face or virtual for distance learning.