The role-playing game to increase students' activity and engagement in the teaching process - A pilot study of research & development campaign

Abstract

Background and purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop and test a simple role-playing game (RPG) dedicated to the generic drug product research and development (R&D) process and evaluate the level of acceptance of this teaching method among pharmacy students.

Educational activity and setting: Students were divided into small groups and participated in the RPG adventures, which led to descriptive characteristics of the development process of the fictional drug product. The depiction of the process in the adventure considered the milestones and obligatory actions to achieve the R&D goal.

Findings: The voluntary survey was completed by 59% (n = 72) of participants. Over 90% of the respondents stated that the game helped them better understand generic drug development. The RPG application allowed a narrative description of the process with the possibility of students' involvement in drug development that mixed regulatory, analytical, and technological issues.

Summary: The application of the RPG allowed the creation of a narrative description of the process with the possibility of involving students in complicated problematics concerning drug development that mixed regulatory, analytical, and technological aspects of this process.

Keywords: Distance learning; Gamification; Role-playing game.