effect of using appendectomy surgical simulation software on academic achievement: game-based learning during the covid-19 pandemic

Background & objective: regarding the urgent needs of students for an efficient teaching methodology, it is necessary to use self-directed and self-centered teaching methods that encourage the power of reasoning and judgment. this study aimed to investigate the effect of using the game-based appendectomy surgical simulation software on the academic achievement of undergraduate operating room students in khomein, iran.materials & methods: this quasi-experimental study was conducted during the covid-19 pandemic. forty undergraduate operating room students who were in the second semester of the first year of the operating room undergraduate program participated in this quasi-experimental single-blind study. the participants were assigned randomly to the control and intervention groups after their consent was obtained. following the use of the game-based appendectomy surgical simulation software for the intervention group and lecture-based classes on a specific academic learning software for the control group, the data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire concerning academic achievement, whose validity and reliability were approved. the data were then analyzed using descriptive and analytical tests in ibm spss (version 22) at a significance level of p<0.05.results: the average score of academic achievement was significantly higher in the intervention group (58.35±2.38) than in the control group (35.65±4.14) (p<0.05).conclusion: using the game-based appendectomy surgical simulation software has been effective in improving the academic achievement of students during the covid-19 pandemic and afterward. therefore, it can be used in academic and educational programs.