ImmuneQuest: Assessment of a Video Game as a Supplement to an Undergraduate Immunology Course

Student learning improves with ImmuneQuest. A) Pre- and post-assessment scores of all students in the course. * denotes statistical significance p < 0.001, Student’s t-test. B) Pre-and post-assessment scores were sub-divided into material covered in lecture only, both lecture and ImmuneQuest, or ImmuneQuest only. Significant improvements were seen in all cases between pre and post scores. Students scored significantly higher on post-assessment information covered in ImmuneQuest only compared with lecture alone. * denotes statistical significance p < 0.05 compared to lecture only post-assessment scores, ANOVA on Ranks with a Tukey Test.

Students of all abilities succeed and fail while playing ImmuneQuest. A) The number of stars (out of 5) students earned on each of the three levels. 0 stars indicates the student was unable to complete the level. B) Average overall score in the course (out of 100%) for students who received 5 stars or 1 star on each level of ImmuneQuest. C–D) Average (C) pre- and (D) post-assessment scores (out of 11) for students who received 5 stars or 1 star on each level of ImmuneQuest. No significant difference in scores was observed in B–D.

Students playing ImmuneQuest could be grouped into “types” and had varying opinions on the game. A) Students were divided into four “types” – Average, Perfectionist, Minimalist, or Struggler – and hours spent playing the game as well as number of wins, losses, and aborted attempts were analyzed. B) Average overall course grade (out of 100%) for each “type” of student. No significant difference was observed between each “type.” C) A Wordle was created to illustrate student responses to a question asking them to use one word to describe ImmuneQuest. “Frustrating” was used by 7/20 students while all other words were written once.