Serious games are a method that can be used to reach the public on complex topics related to the ocean. Although games used for learning generally, and ocean literacy specifically, have developed gradually since the 1970s, it was not until the popularization of digital games, around the turn of the millennium, that serious games rose to prominence in academia. Since then, vast amounts of serious games research have been published each year – chiefly on digital games, but also increasingly on hybrid and analogue games. In this article, we present results from a series of serious games that were played in three geographical regions in Norway with future-generation stakeholders and tie this to ocean literacy. We report on the potential benefits of serious games for learning and motivation based on these results. The games were played within the context of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science, the sustainable development goals and multilevel governance, with a special focus on microplastic pollution and jellyfish blooms. We argue that using serious games can be beneficial not just for outreach but also as a tool for unintrusive collection of qualitative data in the form of narratives from transcriptions post-gaming session and contribute to ocean literacy.

Les objets technologiques, dont les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication (nTIC), ainsi que les jeux vidéo dits « sérieux » (serious games) envahissent notre quotidien depuis quelques années. Leur utilisation dans les disciplines médicales est actuellement en développement croissant, notamment dans le domaine des neurosciences et du vieillissement. L’objectif de ce symposium est de présenter, en premier lieu, les recommandations scientifiques actuelles sur l’utilisation des nTIC et des serious games dans la prise en charge du sujet âgé et des atteintes neuropsychiatriques pouvant être associées. Ensuite, seront présentées les méthodes, utilisant les nTIC et les serious games, permettant d’améliorer l’évaluation et le dépistage des troubles cognitifs et des symptômes thymiques et comportementaux, ainsi que les stratégies non pharmacologiques, utilisant ces outils technologiques, permettant la stimulation des performances cognitives et la prise en charge des perturbations thymiques.

Serious games (SGs) as a new educational format have gained interest among many scholars from diverse fields. SGs seem to be useful tools for teaching innovation processes (IP) as they guarantee intrinsic motivation and provide situated learning. So far, there is no guideline on designing IP games and lowering their development time while ensuring their effectiveness. To fill this gap, we should first analyse the existing IP games with evaluation methods and synthesise their commonalities. Numerous methods have been put forward in the literature to assess digital SGs; however, most of the SGs for IP are board games. That is why we explore in this paper the use of Serious Game Design Assessment (SGDA) framework to analyse IP board games. According to the case study on an open innovation board game, we suggest applying this method to examine the a priori relevance of game elements (components that make up a game system). Moreover, we make recommendations to complement the SGDA framework with Game and Learning Mechanics, and real-world information. This contribution should help designers transform traditional educational supports into serious board games for teaching IP.

Introduction: GridlockED is an educational (or “serious”) game recently developed by a team at McMaster to teach medical learners about patient flow in the emergency department (ED). Beyond patient flow, we were cognizant that the game could provide additional learning opportunities for learners. The goal of this program evaluation project was to investigate workshop attendees’ experiences and identify what areas they found most educational. Methods: A GridlockED board game workshop was developed and delivered in several locations over the fall of 2018. Workshops targeted medical learners and were organized by local emergency medicine interest groups. After a standardized video-based introduction to the game concept and rules, the learners played GridlockED for approximately 90 minutes. After the play session, learners completed an anonymous survey consisting of 7-point Likert scale questions about their experience. They were also asked to identify the learning domains for which GridlockED was developed (Patient Flow, Communication and Teamwork, and ED Basics), and were asked via free-text to identify learning objectives from their experience. We received an exemption for this study from our institutional review board. Results: We had 25 respondents (24 medical students and 1 resident). Trainees rated GridlockED as both enjoyable to play and as a meaningful educational experience, with an average rating of 6.56 (SD 0.94) for enjoyability and 6.44 (0.92) for education. When asked what targeted learning domain was most helpful, 45% of students identified patient flow, 37% teamwork and communication, and only 18% ED basics. When asked to identify their top three areas of learning in open-ended responses, students actually identified resource management most frequently (48%), with improved communication skills (40%) as the second most prominent learning objective. Other interesting self-identified learning points were: a greater appreciation of the role of various providers (24%), the unpredictability of ED care (12%), and how things can go wrong (12%). Conclusion: Medical learners find GridlockED to be both enjoyable and educational. In our targeted areas of learning they found patient flow to be the most educational, but self-identified multiple other areas for learning. Students identified resource management and communication as key areas of learning, suggesting that future workshops might be designed specifically to teach these skills.

Introduction: In 2016, a team at McMaster began developing GridlockED, an educational (or “serious”) board game designed to teach medical learners about patient flow in the emergency department. As serious board games are a relatively new phenomenon in medical education, there is little data on how marketed games are actually used once received by end-users. In this study our goal was to better understand the demographics and game usage for purchasers of the GridlockED board game, which will inform the further improvement or expansion of the game. Methods: Individuals who expressed interest in purchasing gridlockED via our online storefront were sent an anonymous online survey via Google Form. The survey collected demographic and qualitative data with a focus on the respondent's role in medicine, how they have used GridlockED, who they have played GridlockED with, and what changes or additions to GridlockED they would like to see. We also asked about changes for a potential mass-market version of the game targeted towards non-medical individuals. Individuals who did not purchase the game were asked about their barriers to purchase. We received an exemption for this study from our institutional review board. Results: 42 responses (out of 300 individuals on our mailing list, 14% response rate) were collected. Responding purchasers were from 16 different roles in healthcare and 11 different countries. The top 5 roles were: EM trainee, Community EM MD, Academic EM MD, Physicians from other specialties, and EM program director. The majority of respondents were Canadian (38%), with America (21%), New Zealand (10%), and Turkey (7%) the only other countries to have more than 2 respondents. 50% reported having played the game, with the most common use cases being for fun (76%), for teaching trainees (33%) or training with colleagues (19%). For those who did not purchase, price was the largest barrier (81%). 50% of respondents expressed interest in a disaster scenario expansion pack, with 33% interested in set lesson plans. Conclusion: GridlockED attracted interest from a wide range of medical professionals, both in terms or role and location. Users mainly reported using the game for fun, with fewer users using the game for teaching/training purposes. The main barrier to purchase was the game's price.

Introduction: The GridlockED game is a serious game aimed at teaching junior learners about flow and organization in the emergency department(ED). With serious games, the mechanism of learning is thought to be via the gameplay experience. Objectives built into gameplay are aimed at teaching players about a specific concept; in this case, we hoped to teach players about interprofessional collaboration and basic mechanics that drive flow in the ED. However, before a player can be taught, he or she must be engaged and have a positive gameplay experience. From the GridlockED gameplay, we aim to explore how a players gameplay experience related to observed actions while playing the game, including participating in decision making and keeping the team organized. Methods: From April-August 2017, participants were invited to play 4 turns of a GridlockED game session. They were video recorded during gameplay. After playing the game, they were surveyed using the previously derived Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) to measure their gameplay experience. The videos were reviewed by two research team members (SH, EJ), tallying various observed game actions. We conducted Pearson correlation between players GEQ total score and their observed actions. Results: A total of 32 participants (13 attendings, 5 senior residents, 10 junior residents, and 4 nurses) played the game. The average total GEQ was 67.2/132 (SD=10.7), suggesting most players had a moderately good gameplay experience. The total GEQ score correlated with component subscores within the questionnaire. Overall observed activity correlated well with each observed action subtype. However, the GEQ total score did not correlate significantly with the total observed action (Pearsons r=0.18,p=0.32). GEQ total score was found to be moderately correlated to an observation that a player participated in determining strategy during gameplay (r=0.36,p=0.04). There was a moderate negative correlation between determining strategy during gameplay and teaching about the game (r=-0.37,p=0.04) or emergency medicine concepts (r=-0.47,p<0.01). Conclusion: The GEQ is internally consistent, but does not have a strong relationship to observed actions, suggesting that game experience does not necessarily correlate with observable actions. This suggests that players may be intellectually stimulated or engaged without necessarily completing any observable actions during gameplay.

Introduction: The management of patient flow in the emergency department (ED) is crucial for the practice of emergency medicine (EM). However, this skill is difficult to teach didactically and is learned implicitly in the latter half of residency training. To help expedite the learning process, we developed the GridlockED board game as an educational tool to simulate ED patient flow. By having junior medical trainees play this game, we believe that they will develop a greater understanding of patient flow and resource management in the ED. Additionally, since GridlockED is a cooperative game, players may also benefit by improving their communication and teamwork skills. Methods: GridlockED was developed over twenty months of iterative gameplay and review. Feedback from attending emergency physicians, residents, and medical students was integrated into the game through a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model. Emergency medicine nurses, physicians and residents at McMaster University were recruited to play GridlockED. Each player completed a pre-survey to collect demographic data and to assess their prior experience with playing board games. All play sessions were recorded for data collection purposes. Following each game session, a member of the research team conducted an exit interview with the players to gather information about their play experience and the educational value of the game. A post-survey was also sent to each participant for further feedback. Results: Eighteen gameplay sessions were conducted from June to August 2017. A total of thirty-two participants played the game (13 emergency physicians, 15 residents, and four nurses). Overall responses to the post-gameplay survey showed that players endorsed GridlockED as a useful potential teaching tool (75%, n=24/32) and the majority felt that it had the potential to improve patient flow in the ED (56%, n=18/32). Most participants found that the game was easy to play (91%, n=27/29), and that the instructions were clear (87.5%, n=28/32). Respondents also felt that the game reflected real life scenarios (56%, n=18) and that cases reflected the types of patients that they saw in the ED (78%, n=25). Conclusion: Our results have shown an overall positive response to GridlockED, with most participants supporting it as both an engaging board game and potential teaching tool. We believe that future studies with larger sample sizes and medical students will further validate the use of serious games in medical education.