A Taxonomy of Serious Games for Education in the

Healthcare Professions

Cynthia K. Russell, PhD, RNUniversity of Tennessee Health

Science CenterCollege of Nursing

NMC Online Conference on Educational Gaming December 2005Serious Games for Educating Healthcare Professionals

Boundaries & D-

• Serious educational games for educating healthcare students

• Vitriolic arguments about game taxonomies– Usefulness

– Level of detail

– Academic neophytes

See, for example:Mark Wolf’s (2000) classificationCraig Lindley’s (2003) classificationLetters to editor re: Lindley’s classification:

RappoltKelly

NMC Online Conference on Educational Gaming December 2005

Action & Adventure Games

• Start with early ages and continue into student role

• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine sitehttp://nobelprize.org/medicine/educational

▪ DNA ▪ TB ▪ Blood Typing

▪ Genetics ▪ MRI ▪ Pavlov’s Dog

▪ EKG ▪ Brain ▪ Penicillin

NMC Online Conference on Educational Gaming December 2005Action & Adventure Games

Adaptation Games• Frequently used

• Considered by some to be energizers or exercises and not games

• Parade of Games in PowerPointhttp://facstaff.uww.edu/jonesd/games/index.html

NMC Online Conference on Educational Gaming December 2005Adaptation Games

▪ cardiovascular jeopardy ▪ anatomy crosswords

▪ research jeopardy ▪ cultural jeopardy

Simulation Games• Healthcare provider/student

gaming simulations– ACLS Interactive– Virtual Primary Care Clinic

• Simulation Games for Diversity Training

• Video decision-making simulations– Anatomy of Care

• Surgical game simulations– Virtual Surgeon

NMC Online Conference on Educational Gaming December 2005Simulation Games

Games in Development

• Hazmat:Hotzone

• Interactive Trauma Trainer

• Pulse!!

• Crisis Team Training

• Biohazard

NMC Online Conference on Educational Gaming December 2005Games in Development

Serious Games Resources for Healthcare Educators

• Games for Health

• Resources: Games, Interactive Software and Game Techniques to Enhance Teaching and Learning

• MERLOT

• Technology-Escapades

NMC Online Conference on Educational Gaming December 2005Serious Games Resources