Gamification in Asynchronous Faculty Development

NCT07788183 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: PTE/105435-1/2025
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 73
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

TEACH\_UP is a parallel-group randomized trial that evaluated whether adding a gamified design layer to a content-equivalent asynchronous faculty development course improved teaching self-efficacy, teaching orientation, engagement, course participation, and early teaching performance among medical educators at the University of Pécs Medical School. Participants were allocated to a gamified Moodle course or a standard Moodle course containing the same modules, learning objectives, assessments, and feedback. The gamified version added map-based progression, conditional release, experience points, badges, progress visibility, and a leaderboard. Outcomes included pre-post teaching self-efficacy and teaching orientation, post-course engagement, Moodle analytics, course performance, microteaching ratings, and a protocol-specified three-month follow-up survey.

Conditions

Medical Education; Faculty Development

Keywords

Gamification; Faculty development; Medical education; Health Professions Education; Asnychronous online learning; Teaching self-efficacy; Teaching orientation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Teaching self-efficacy

  Mean score from items 1-11 of the 16-item Physician Teaching Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PTSQ), representing items applicable across clinical and preclinical teaching contexts. Each item is scored from 1 to 5. The score is calculated when at least 9 of the 11 items are completed. Possible scores range from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater teaching self-efficacy. Primary analysis: post-course score adjusted for baseline.

  At completion of the 10- to 12-week course

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Student-focused teaching orientation

  At completion of the 10- to 12-week course

• Relative teaching orientation

  At completion of the 10- to 12-week course

• Microteaching performance

  At the post-course microteaching session, approximately 10 to 12 weeks after enrollment

• Online engagement

  At completion of the 10- to 12-week course

Other Outcomes (2)

• Moodle activity-view rate

  Throughout the 10-12 week course

• Three-month teaching self-efficacy

  3 months after Microteaching completion (6 months from enrollment)

Study Arms (2)

Gamified Moodle course

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Gamified Asynchronous Faculty Development Course Ten asynchronous faculty-development modules delivered through Moodle. Core content, learning objectives, assessments, automated quiz feedback, H5P activities, discussion forums, videos, and microteaching requirements matched the comparator. The gamified layer added a map-based pathway, sequential/conditional activity release, experience points, badges, visible progress, and leaderboard functionality. Selected supplementary materials were unlocked conditionally based on quiz performance.

Behavioral: Gamified Asynchronous Faculty Development Course

Standard Moodle course

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Behavioral: Standard Asynchronous Faculty Development Course The same ten modules, instructional content, learning objectives, H5P activities, discussions, videos, quizzes, assessments, and feedback were presented in a conventional Moodle format without the gamified layer. Supplementary materials became available after quiz completion rather than through performance-dependent game progression.

Behavioral: Standard Asynchronous Faculty Development Course

Interventions

Gamified Asynchronous Faculty Development Course BEHAVIORAL

A 10-module, self-paced faculty development course delivered through the institutional Moodle platform. Each module included interactive H5P content, a discussion activity, a short formative quiz with automated feedback, and a module-related video. The course incorporated a map-based progression pathway, sequential and conditional activity release, experience points, badges, visible progress indicators, and leaderboard functionality. Selected supplementary materials were unlocked according to predefined quiz-performance criteria. The course concluded with a cumulative knowledge assessment and a synchronous microteaching activity. Its learning objectives, substantive content, assessments, and feedback were identical to those of the standard course.

Gamified Moodle course

Standard Asynchronous Faculty Development Course BEHAVIORAL

A matched 10-module, self-paced faculty development course delivered through the institutional Moodle platform. It contained the same learning objectives, substantive content, H5P activities, discussions, videos, formative quizzes, automated feedback, cumulative knowledge assessment, and synchronous microteaching activity as the gamified course. The modules were presented through a conventional Moodle interface without map-based progression, experience points, badges, progress indicators, leaderboard functionality, or performance-dependent gamified unlocking. Supplementary materials became available after completion of the relevant quiz regardless of the participant's score.

Standard Moodle course

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adults affiliated with the University of Pécs Medical School who were involved in undergraduate or postgraduate teaching, had institutional Moodle access, and provided electronic informed consent.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pecs: lead

Study Sites (1)

Medical School, University of Pécs

Pécs, Baranya, 7624, Hungary

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Single (Outcomes Assessor), with a limiting description: microteaching raters were not provided allocation; participants and self-report outcomes were unmasked
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 15, 2026
• First Posted: August 26, 2026
• Study Start: September 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: November 28, 2025
• Study Completion: February 23, 2026
• Last Updated: August 26, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HU (1)