Proficiency in medical terminology is an essential competence of physicians which ensures reliable and unambiguous communication in everyday clinical practice. The adequate use of medical terminology, for example, in medical records and shift handovers, is, therefore, essential for patient safety and effective workflows [1]. On the other hand, medical terminology plays a role in discussions with patients concerning their diagnosis, therapy and prognosis. Patients’ health literacy has increased and so has their knowledge of medical terminology and its usage [2]. However, key communicative competences of physicians still include the explanation of medical terms and their translation into a comprehensible language.
A mandatory course on medical terminology is included in the German Medical Licensure Act for Physicians (“Ärztliche Approbationsordnung”) in the preclinical part of the curriculum. The course bears specific challenges for university lecturers in educational practice due to the often heterogeneous groups of students in their initial study phase: Firstly, while some medical students benefit from their proficiency in Latin (and, to a lesser extent, Greek) gained in high school, others cannot draw on previously gained knowledge as Latin is an elective subject at German high schools. Secondly, while some medical students are German native speakers, for others, German is a foreign language, which makes it particularly challenging for them to deal with the extensive Greco-Latin technical vocabulary in medicine and its corresponding German terms. Thirdly, there are students who have already completed a vocational training before starting their medical studies (e.g. nurses, paramedics), whereas other students start their medical studies immediately after high school. Consequently, students vary in age and have a wide range of language competencies and practical experience which influences their learning behaviour and success. Individual transitions and biographies are of particular importance for the subject of medical terminology and can facilitate or complicate learning.
Medical terminology is taught heterogeneously at German universities as there is no nationwide curriculum or framework: There are purely self-study or e-learning courses combined with tutorials and/or consultation hours with lecturers and seminars with tutorials or lectures. Textbooks or lecture notes are currently mainly used as teaching aids. However, students’ preferences for learning materials have changed and alternatives to textbooks are becoming increasingly important. Online tools and materials are such alternatives, which are attractive as they cost little [3], are up-to-date and can be easily maintained by their creators. Instructors need to consider such changes in students’ learning preferences and adapt their teaching style and materials accordingly. Learning management systems in higher education facilitate the creation of learning tools and materials by the instructors; they might help to meet the students’ needs for up-to-date online material which is easy to access and accommodates their learning habits. Innovative learning aids for students regarding medical terminology have so far used, for example, mnemonics [4] and word matching games [5]. Such exercise materials with a playful incentive offer the opportunity of actively engaging with the course content differently and, thus, deepen students’ knowledge and understanding in a sustainable way [6, 7]. The use of typical game design elements outside of an actual gaming context is referred to as “gamification” [8]. Gamified learning has the potential to improve the students’ attitude towards the learning content, their engagement during the course and overall achievements [6, 9].
Each year about 220 first term students in human and dental medicine at the University Medicine Greifswald (Greifswald, Germany) pass a seven-week course in medical terminology consisting of lectures and face-to-face seminars given by university lecturers. The classes are accompanied by optional tutorials taught by medical students from higher terms. Key learning objectives refer to a sound knowledge of the basics of the Latin language as far as relevant for medical terminology (e.g. declensions of nominative and genitive). Furthermore, the course enables the students to analyse, understand and explain medical compounds by anatomising them into their components (prefix, root word, suffix). The course generally aims at the students becoming more confident in anatomical nomenclature and basic clinical vocabulary, being able to pronounce medical terms correctly and use them in a grammatically correct way. Moreover, the students learn about the historical contexts (etymological roots) that have influenced the development of the terms and their present use and meaning.
As a consequence of the students’ highly individual prerequisites when entering the course, the key learning objectives are achieved to a varying extent. In order to overcome major differences in learning outcomes, potential improvements were identified satisfying the individual needs of the students more efficiently with the resources currently available at the University Medicine Greifswald. In the light of the specific challenges described above, an overview of publicly available e-learning offers and tools on medical terminology in the German language was developed. A small number of apps were found, but these were partly of questionable quality and caused additional costs for the students. Due to the deficiencies and weaknesses of existing tools, the teaching staff decided to create a separate, suitable learning tool that is in accordance with the students’ learning preferences and facilitates achieving the key objectives of the medical terminology course. These aims are addressed by improving the motivation and individual learning outcomes with the assistance of a learning environment created by an interactive and playful tool, supplied via the learning platform Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). Moodle is an open-source learning management system that provides instructors with ready-to-use tools to develop and implement online courses and learning aids. Moodle follows a constructivist approach towards learning and teaching [10]. Learning within the constructivist paradigm is based on four main characteristics: the importance of previous knowledge for learning, the construction of meaning by the learners, the key role of social interaction and the need for authentic learning tasks [11].
As a result of this analysis, this article presents a new and additional learning space that has been created and describes its pilot implementation and evaluation of the students’ acceptance at the University Medicine Greifswald in two consecutive winter terms.