Application of Gamification Teaching in Disaster Education: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

Abstract

As societies continue to develop and change, the significance of disaster education is becoming increasingly important. Despite the events of disaster being hard to predict, people’s response ability to such events can be improved by education and training. Gamification, an innovative teaching method, has demonstrated great potential across various fields, including disaster education.

We aimed to conduct a review on the scope and application of gamification teaching in disaster education, providing reference to inform the creation of a comprehensive disaster education program, enhance disaster response capabilities and ensure the quality of post-disaster care services.

This scoping review was conducted according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology. This method outlined the synthesis questions and defined the study population, conceptual, and contextual framework to establish inclusion and exclusion criteria. A systematic search of relevant literature across Cochrane Library, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, China Knowledge, Wanfang, Wipro, and China Biomedical Literature Service, with a timeframe from inception to April 21, 2024. Two researchers independently screened the literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and performed data extraction.

A total of 16 studies, originating from eight different countries, were included in this review. These studies involved 1,722 participants, including medical professionals, disaster response personnel, and students. The gamification approaches to teaching and learning encompassed seven categories: tabletop game, virtual reality and mobile game, scenario-based simulation game, escape room, themed game, serious game, and board game. The objectives of the studies were diverse. Three studies conducted randomized controlled trials, with only one study conducting comparative analysis between different games. Furthermore, two studies conducted long-term outcome evaluations.

It is important to integrate gamification teaching into disaster education. However, there is currently a lack of systematic teaching guidelines and better display or intervention of teaching outcome. In the future, it will be essential to explore optimal gamification teaching intervention strategies tailored to various cultural contexts, enhance the outcome evaluation criteria, and elevate the quality of teaching and learning in disaster education.