Gamified E-learning in medical terminology: the TERMInator tool

Background Proficiency in medical terminology is an essential competence of physicians which ensures reliable and unambiguous communication in everyday clinical practice. The attendance of a course on medical terminology is mandatory for human and dental medicine students in Germany. Students' prerequisites when entering the course are diverse and the key learning objectives are achieved to a varying degree. Methods A new learning space, the "TERMInator", was developed at the University Medicine Greifswald to meet the medical students' individual learning needs better. The interactive e-learning course serves as a supplement to the seminars, lectures and tutorials to rehearse and practically apply the course contents at an individual pace. It uses gamification elements and is supplied via the learning platform Moodle. The TERMInator was pilot implemented in two consecutive winter terms (2018/19, 2019/20) and comprehensively evaluated based on the general course evaluations and an anonymous questionnaire covering aspects of content, layout and user friendliness of the TERMInator and questions concerning the students' learning preferences. Results The TERMInator was rated very positively overall, which was also fed back to the lecturers during the classes. Students appreciate the new e-learning tool greatly and stress that the TERMInator should be further expanded. The handling of the TERMInator was considered to be very easy and, therefore, almost no training time was needed. The tasks were easy to understand and considered a good supplement to the seminar contents. The extent and quality of the images were seen rather critically. The students' learning strategies differ. Although e-learning options were generally rated as very important, student tutorials were considered by far the most important. Conclusions Medical terminology classes are characterised by heterogeneous learning groups and a high workload within a short time, which can lead to major challenges for the teaching staff. Complementary gamified e-learning tools are promising in view of the students' different knowledge levels and changing learning behaviour.