Clinical trial NCT05520671: Evaluating TESLA-G, a Gamified, Telegram-delivered, Quizzing Platform for Surgical Education in Medical Students
Official title: Evaluating TESLA-G, a Gamified, Telegram-delivered, Quizzing Platform for Surgical Education in Medical Students: a Protocol for a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Surgical Education in Medical Students
Keywords: surgical education
medical students
quiz
gamification
randomised controlled trial
Lead sponsor: Nanyang Technological University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-08-30
Enrollment: 50
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 100
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: This is an online, pilot randomised controlled trial consisting of two parallel active groups - an intervention group and an active control group. Participants will be randomised into each group with a 1:1 allocation ratio, stratified by year of study.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Telegram Education for Surgical Learning and Application Gamified (TESLA-G) is an online, gamified quizzing platform for surgical education in medical students.The main objective of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility and acceptability of carrying out a full randomised control trial involving TESLA-G.

A pilot randomised controlled trial involving 50 undergraduate medical students will be conducted. They will be randomised into an intervention group and an active control group.

Feasibility will be determined by participant enrollment, retention rate, and quiz completion. Acceptability will be measured quantitatively via a post-intervention learner satisfaction survey and qualitatively via semi-structured interviews. Additionally, participants' scores for pre- and post-intervention knowledge tests will be compared.

Detailed description: Online multiple-choice question (MCQ) quizzes are a well-established summative assessment tool in medical education. However, they suffer from high drop-out rates, attributed to waning user motivation over time. Various studies have shown that incorporation of gamified elements into learning can promote engagement and motivation.

In this pilot study, we will assess the feasibility and acceptability of a novel gamified quizzing platform, Telegram Education for Surgical Learning and Application Gamified (TESLA-G), to determine the possibility of a future larger-scale randomised controlled trial.

This study entails a randomised controlled trial with two arms, an intervention group (TESLA-G) and an active control group (conventional quizzing platform). 50 first to fifth year medical students from Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University will be randomised into the two arms with a 1:1 allocation ratio, stratified by year of study. Participants will use the assigned quizzing platform to attempt questions on a specific topic (endocrine surgery) over a period of two weeks.

At the end of the study period, several outcomes will be assessed. Feasibility will be determined by participant enrollment, retention rate, and quiz completion. Acceptability will be measured quantitatively via a post-intervention learner satisfaction survey and qualitatively via semi-structured interviews. Additionally, participants' scores for pre- and post-intervention knowledge tests will be compared.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Currently enrolled in a full-time 5-year undergraduate programme in the medical school that leads to the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
* Willing and able to provide consent for participating in the entire duration of the study including all pre- and post-study assessments

Exclusion Criteria:

* NIL

Primary outcomes:
measure: Feasibility of intervention
timeFrame: 14 days
measure: Acceptability of intervention
timeFrame: Post-intervention (14 days)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Improvement of surgical knowledge
timeFrame: Pre and post-intervention (14 days)
measure: Participant satisfaction
timeFrame: Post-intervention (14 days)
measure: Retention of surgical knowledge
timeFrame: 14 days after intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore
name: Clement, Luck Khng Chia, MBBS, MS
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
name: Lorainne Tudor Car, MBBS, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
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