Abstract:

The potential of multimedia resources as complementary materials in the teaching of health sciences subjects—traditionally linked to the use of textbooks and dense scientific publications—has been thoroughly demonstrated. In particular, our group has been using various video‑ and comic‑book‑based tools and activities to boost motivation and promote deep learning among students from different health sciences degrees and subjects. Our results have shown that one of the most powerful features of these tools lies in the strength of narrative‑driven activities, which directly engage the emotional component of learning processes. One of the most successful activities has been those based on the escape room format, specifically virtual escape rooms with a strong narrative component inspired by the classical characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Starting from an initial pilot activity, in which different video segments depicted the characters attempting to solve specific mysteries related to human nutrition and dietetics, the activity was subsequently expanded into several episodes, each further developing the characters’ personalities and broadening the scope of the initial adventures.

Using this strategy, we have transferred the activity to other health sciences degrees and subjects by adapting the storyline and related tasks, assessing its suitability in different contexts: Pathophysiology (Human Nutrition and Dietetics degree), Human Physiology, and Physiology of Human Exercise (Physiotherapy degree). In some cases, only the activities between video segments were modified to adjust and scale the difficulty to the specific curriculum of each subject; in others, new videos were recorded, always maintaining a certain degree of generality to allow further adaptation to other subjects and inter‑segment activities.

The results obtained have been positive across all contexts tested and confirm that narrative‑driven, problem‑solving experiences constitute an effective strategy for reviewing complex concepts related to human health. Finally, the format used has proven to be easily adaptable and transferable to related subjects across different health sciences degrees.

Keywords:

PBL, gamification, escape room, physiology, deep learning.