An educational board game for learning orofacial spaces: An experimental study comparing collaborative and competitive approaches

Abstract Odontogenic orofacial space infection is an important topic in the dental curriculum. However, dental students do encounter difficulties in identifying the patterns of odontogenic infection spreading through fascial spaces. The implementation of game concepts might allow them to actively learn this topic by engagement. This research aimed to develop a game for learning about the orofacial spaces and to evaluate its implementation whether a competitive or collaborative approach would be more effective for dental undergraduates. ‘Trace the Spread’ has been developed as a table‐top board game, consisting of a main board presenting the anatomical map of a human model and two types of cards (quest and action cards). Eight groups of four students were randomly assigned into either the collaboration or competition group. The students were given pre‐ and post‐knowledge assessments to evaluate knowledge improvement after game completion, where they were asked to rate their satisfaction toward the game using a paper‐based questionnaire. The findings demonstrated a significant increase in the knowledge assessment scores after game completion in both collaboration ( p < 0.001) and competition groups ( p = 0.003). The score improvement of the collaboration group was significantly higher than that of the competition group ( p < 0.001). The students tended to show satisfaction with the game, in which the collaboration group rated the game more positively compared to the competitive approach. This game appeared to be effective for learning orofacial space infections, and the learning environment within the collaborative group was found to be more supportive in terms of knowledge improvement and satisfaction.