Fall 2022

Games to Increase Engagement in ANATOMY 201 LAB

Anecdotally many instructors have been reporting that they are struggling to engage students post COVID.  In the Biology department, this is particularly evident in the BIO 201 courses and labs.  Currently I am teaching two hybrid sections of BIO 201, where the students receive all lecture content online and then attend one in person laboratory a week.  It was my goal to increase laboratory engagement by including short games at the start or end of each class period.  

Each week I featured a different game or puzzle that was designed to align with a specific learning objective covered in that lab.  For the first lab, I sought to highlight structure function relationships and also get the students to work in groups.  Each group had to select a body structure or organ from the box and then work together over 15 minutes to determine how the anatomical features aligned with the physiological function.  They were permitted to utilize all resources that they had available.  At the end of the time period, each group shared their conclusions with the class.  If they correctly highlighted a structure-function relationship, the members of the group each won a pencil.  

Other class periods I made placed puzzles on each student's seat and they had the first 10 minutes of class to work on them.  I would then review the answers as a group and award a prize to those that had the most correct answers or were closest to solving the puzzle.  Students could work alone or in groups, and again could use any resources available.  Typically, I awarded bonus points for the puzzles.

I had the most visible engagement when I used Kahoot and typically I had a larger prize for the Kahoot winner (I used $10 Starbucks gift cards).   Students all downloaded the app and played either individually or as pairs.   I typically saved Kahoot for the end of the unit, when students should have been familiar with the material.  It also allowed them to practice retrieving the knowledge when the stakes were low.  

The games made class more fun, and a subset of students used them to increase engagement with the material.  Unfortunately, attendance in my lab sections remained abysmally low after the first couple of weeks of class.  The games were not a draw to induce attendance. 

Picture 1 [left]: Gray's Anatomy Puzzle Book was the source of most of the puzzles used.

Picture 2 [right]: Example of a puzzle used to augment the section on the axial skeleton.

Dr. Tina Rowe's Nursing 112 class put their critical thinking skills to the test in this Halloween Nursing Escape Game created just for her classroom.  Click the image below to launch the video to see highlights from the Escape Game.