Formative Evaluation of an Online Educational Game

The Game—Stis: Stopping The Transmission

Two doctors joined our research team to develop a game on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) using the Parcheesi GEGS. The game was called STIs: Stopping the Transmission. They focused on developing cognitive questions related to four aspects of STIs:

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  Prevention: eleven questions teach the best ways to break the cycle of transmitting STIs, such as types of condoms, identifying high risk behavior, etc.;

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  Prevalence: eleven questions report the current situation, the high number of infected cases and STI carriers, and information concerning the infections themselves (their nature and seen or unseen effects);

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  STI transmission: eighteen questions deal with the ways in which different STIs can be transmitted and call into question widespread popular beliefs;

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  Treatment: how certain STIs can be treated, managed, or cured, how STI transmission can be prevented, and some questions address what steps should be taken when someone believes he/she has been exposed to an STI.

56 questions were created using various question types: yes/no, true/false, multiple choice (2, 3 or 4 possible answers), fill-in-the-blank sentences, and logical sequence questions. Images, sound clips and videos were also used in some questions, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Multimedia question example

Based on these questions, the research team then designed 19 affective questions in the form of open-ended questions and questions requiring a certain task:

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  12 role-play questions, involving dialogue between one or more players, or spontaneous answers based on scenarios, to encourage an understanding of how and why the players would act a certain way in a given situation (Figure 2);

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  7 model-type questions require the player to observe a model or an example which she/he must imitate to acquire the desired behaviour. The model shown explains in concrete terms specifically what behaviors are expected and how these should be developed. In the game, these questions provide realistic demonstrations (correct or incorrect). For example, two cards show the back of a condom wrapper, one with an outdated expiration date and the other with a valid date. The player must indicate whether the date is good or not. For every correct answer, the player is given positive reinforcement. For every error, the player is given feedback to help her/him succeed the next time.

Figure 2.

Example of a role-play activity