Learning Glucose Metabolism Through "Sugar Scramble": A Digital Game-Based Approach

A major topic taught in undergraduate biochemistry courses is glucose metabolism. Traditionally, passive and linear pedagogical methods-such as lectures and textbook readings-are often employed to cover the multitude of metabolic pathways together with subcomponents, such as enzyme reactions, associated molecular players and regulation points (Chen & Ni, 2013; Metzger, 2006). This large quantity of information can lead to students memorizing the content rather than developing a conceptual and integrated understanding of the metabolic system as a whole. An active learning approach may be more appropriate in this instance (Prensky, 2001); however, there is a lack of existing active learning resources available to assist with student learning of cellular metabolism. Digital games are a great tool that can facilitate active learning. They can engage and educate the player through an immersive digital environment (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) and provide opportunities for in-game failure which can increase a player's engagement, motivation, and learning (King et al, 2009). We designed an eight-level 2D game, "Sugar Scramble", that uses a circuit board metaphor representing the pathways involved with glucose metabolism. In order to win each level, circuit board connections need to be made between enzymes and pathways to generate a certain target amount of energy. More specifically, players must identify and select the relevant chips-where chips represent enzymes and substrates for each level-place them in the appropriate location, and correctly connect them together within a given number of moves. Players can then run a simulation of the pathways in order to visualize the impact of their chip placement and influence on the energy flux of the system. If the player is successful, their circuit board will power a robot to accomplish activities, and they will unlock an infographic illustration related to that level. Our pedagogical goal for this game is to allow the players to interactively apply and integrate their understanding of metabolic flux and to visualize how it can change depending on energy demands. Sugar Scramble aims to take advantage of the immersive, exploratory, and engaging opportunities afforded by digital games in order to enrich and supplement traditional learning approaches in the context of metabolism in undergraduate biochemistry. A video demonstrating the game is currently available at https://bit.ly/sugar-scramble-demo.