Mate Maretić, Dalibor Čavić, Livia Puljak

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.64332/ujbb.3.1.1

Abstract
Background: Nursing education in Croatia is primarily based on traditional frontal teaching methods. There is limited evidence comparing collaborative learning and ICT based gamification with traditional methods regarding knowledge acquisition and student satisfaction.

Aim: This study compared the effects of three teaching methods – gamification with ICT, collaborative learning, and frontal teaching – on the knowledge and satisfaction of nursing high school students during an emergency medical procedures course.

Methods: This was a non-randomised quasi-experimental study with parallel pretest-posttest groups including 65 fourth-grade nursing high school students in Zagreb, Croatia. Three classes were assigned to gamification with ICT (n=24), collaborative learning (n=18), or frontal teaching (n=23). All groups received eight hours of instruction over two months. Outcomes were measured using a standardised knowledge exam and a satisfaction questionnaire.

Results: A total of 54 participants completed the questionnaire. Baseline knowledge did not significantly differ between the groups. Following the interventions, the gamification and ICT group achieved significantly higher total knowledge scores compared to both the frontal teaching group (p=0.021) and the collaborative learning group (p=0.040). Significant differences were also observed across all specific cognitive domains, including factual knowledge, understanding, and application/analysis. Regarding student satisfaction, the collaborative learning group reported significantly lower perceived teacher support compared to the other two groups.

Conclusion: Gamification with ICT was associated with higher post-intervention knowledge scores than frontal teaching and collaborative learning, while overall student satisfaction did not differ significantly. These findings suggest that gamification with ICT may be a promising approach for improving short-term knowledge acquisition in nursing education.

Keywords: nursing; frontal teaching; collaborative learning; gamification; information and communication technologies