Kwak Myunghwan, Kim Byeong-Je, Chung Ji-Bum
Department of Civil Urban Earth and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, 50, UNIST-gil, Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea, 82 010-2488-1506.
The Institute of Social Data Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea.
JMIR Serious Games. 2024 Oct 15;12:e54968. doi: 10.2196/54968.
Public health education plays a crucial role in effectively addressing infectious diseases such as COVID-19. However, existing educational materials often provide only foundational information, and traditional group education faces challenges due to social distancing policies.
Addressing these gaps, our study introduces a serious game called "Flattening the Curve." This interactive experience immerses learners in the role of quarantine policy managers, offering unique insights into the effects and challenges of social distancing policies.
The development of the game adhered to the SERES framework, ensuring a scientifically designed foundation. To achieve its learning objectives, the game incorporated learning and game mechanics including an agent-based infection model, a social distancing policy model, and an economic model, which were developed based on previous literature. After defining a broad concept of scientific and design foundations, we used a participatory design process. This study included 16 undergraduates and took place over one semester. Participants played the game, gave feedback, and answered surveys. The game was improved based on participants' feedback throughout the process. Participants' feedback was analyzed based on the Design, Play, and Experience framework. Surveys were conducted before and after the activity and analyzed to assess participants' evaluation of and satisfaction with the game.
The game successfully achieved its learning objectives, encompassing a comprehensive understanding of infectious disease characteristics; the disease transmission process; the necessity and efficacy of quarantine policies and their delicate balance with economic factors; and the concept of flattening the curve. To achieve this, the game includes the following: (1) an agent-based infection model based on the modified Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Hospitalized-Recovered (SEIHR) model with five infectious disease scenarios; (2) a quarantine policy model with social distancing, travel control, and intensive care unit management; and (3) an economic model that allows users to consider the impact of quarantine policies on a community's economy. In response to participatory design feedback, the game underwent meticulous modifications, including refining game systems, parameters, design elements, the user interface, and interactions. Key feedback included requests for more scenarios and engaging yet simple game elements, as well as suggestions for improving the scoring system and design features. Notably, concerns about the fairness of the outcome evaluation system (star rating system), which could incentivize prioritizing economic activity over minimizing casualties, were raised and addressed by replacing the star rating system with a progress-based vaccine development system. Quantitative evaluation results reflect participants' positive assessments of the game through the learner-centric approach.
The serious game "Flattening the Curve," developed through a participatory design approach, emerges as a valuable tool for public health education, particularly concerning social distancing policies. The game and its source code are openly accessible online, enabling widespread use for research and educational purposes.
公共卫生教育在有效应对诸如 COVID-19 等传染病方面发挥着关键作用。然而，现有的教育材料往往仅提供基础信息，并且由于社交距离政策，传统的集体教育面临挑战。
为填补这些空白，我们的研究引入了一款名为“平缓曲线”的严肃游戏。这种互动体验让学习者沉浸于检疫政策管理者的角色中，提供了对社交距离政策的影响和挑战的独特见解。
游戏的开发遵循 SERES 框架，确保有科学设计的基础。为实现其学习目标，游戏纳入了学习和游戏机制，包括基于主体的感染模型、社交距离政策模型和经济模型，这些模型是根据先前的文献开发的。在确定了科学和设计基础的广泛概念后，我们采用了参与式设计过程。本研究包括 16 名本科生，历时一个学期。参与者玩游戏、提供反馈并回答调查问卷。在整个过程中，根据参与者的反馈对游戏进行了改进。基于“设计、游戏和体验”框架对参与者的反馈进行了分析。在活动前后进行了调查，并对其进行分析以评估参与者对游戏的评价和满意度。
该游戏成功实现了其学习目标，包括对传染病特征的全面理解；疾病传播过程；检疫政策的必要性和有效性及其与经济因素的微妙平衡；以及平缓曲线的概念。为实现这一目标，游戏包括以下内容：（1）基于修改后的易感-暴露-感染-住院-康复（SEIHR）模型的具有五种传染病场景的基于主体的感染模型；（2）具有社交距离、旅行控制和重症监护病房管理的检疫政策模型；（3）一个经济模型，允许用户考虑检疫政策对社区经济的影响。针对参与式设计反馈，游戏进行了精心修改，包括完善游戏系统、参数、设计元素、用户界面和交互。关键反馈包括要求增加更多场景和引人入胜但简单的游戏元素，以及改进评分系统和设计功能的建议。值得注意的是，有人提出了对结果评估系统（星级评分系统）公平性的担忧，该系统可能会激励人们将经济活动置于将伤亡降至最低之上，通过用基于进度的疫苗开发系统取代星级评分系统来解决了这一问题。定量评估结果通过以学习者为中心的方法反映了参与者对游戏的积极评价。
通过参与式设计方法开发的严肃游戏“平缓曲线”成为公共卫生教育的一个有价值的工具，特别是关于社交距离政策。该游戏及其源代码可在网上公开获取，便于广泛用于研究和教育目的。
