App development
tooth
A mobile web-app (app) for knowledge repetition and factual knowledge training was created in German and made available for dental students at RWTH Aachen University. The app is a digital quiz-based game that can be used on smartphones, tablets, and browsers on desktop computers and laptops (Figs. Shows screenshots of the newly programmed serious gameShows a QR code linked to a video introducing the serious game appFirst, a prototype was developed, which could be optimized thanks to a beta test and further focus group interviews. The focus groups included teachers, students, and media experts. Finally, the app was finalized for this study based on the aforementioned findings and suggestions for improvement.The app's questions are divided into categories based on the individual courses taken throughout the dental curriculum. Two dentists from the Department of Prosthodontics and Biomaterials created the questions as single-choice questions with four answer options. The chair of the department proofread all questions. The integration of graphic elements such as illustrations or photographs was provided. A game session consists of five consecutive questions. Feedback on each question played is provided after each game to promote student learning. The student plays a certain number of questions. At the end of a game, he is shown how many questions were answered correctly or incorrectly. For each correct or incorrect answer, the student receives feedback and an explanation of why the answer was correct or incorrect. Users can also create their own nicknames and choose an existing avatar. The avatar reacts differently after each game to support the gamification effect during a game session, depending on the player's performance and points scored. Depending on how many points the player has achieved, the avatar cries is neutral or laughs when he has achieved a high score and receives a reward for it. On the results page, the student also receives feedback via a round bar on how many of the questions available in the app he has answered correctly so far and how many are still missing. This is a method of tracking performance and progress in the game. The goal is to close the entire bar, and thus to have answered all possible questions correctly. The time of answering is also tracked and marked in red if the questions are answered slowly.The app contains different modes. Participants can play all questions one after the other, regardless of the learning topic, in the so-called "Marathon" mode, or they can play questions on a specific course, in the so-called "Play Course" mode, or questions on specific topics of the course, in the so-called "Topic Deepening" mode. In addition, participants can play the "Favorites" mode, in which they can recall questions that they have previously marked as important.The target group for the present study was the dental students of the 4th preclinical semester of the Department of Prosthodontics and Biomaterials. The entire course lasts approximately nine weeks.The practical objectives of the course are to acquire skills in tooth preparation for fixed prostheses, fabrication of a Michigan splint, and temporary restorations.The course is therefore divided into different practical sections. Parallel to the practical training, theoretical seminars are held once a week, and lectures twice a week.Theory taught includes general dentistry, materials science, prosthodontics and dental instruments.The focus of the game is on teaching detailed theoretical content, in particular learning factual knowledge such as terms, basic anatomical principles, specialist vocabulary and classifications. The lectures and seminars, on the other hand, focus mainly on manual tasks and on deepening basic theoretical knowledge.