Efficacy of Flipped Classroom and Game Teaching in Experimental Teaching of Histology and Embryology.

Background: Histology and Embryology (HE) are important basic medical courses, with complex, abstract content and difficult memorization of knowledge points, which leads to a decrease in students' interest in learning. Therefore, how to improve students' learning interest is worth serious consideration by teachers. This study aims to investigate the promoting effect of interesting teaching based on flipped classrooms and game teaching on the experimental teaching of HE. Methods: Implementing flipped classrooms and gamified teaching methods for the class of 2023 in clinical medicine. Before class, the teaching videos were uploaded to Moso Teach to guide students in self-directed learning. In class, each group discussed the experimental content on the digital platform, and the teacher supervised the classroom to guide and address queries. Later, some students were randomly selected to explain the morphological characteristics of the main structure on the podium, and the teacher recapitulated and assessed the performance of each group. Finally, the knowledge points of HE were carefully designed into classroom games to make the learning experience more engaging. The effectiveness of the flipped classroom and game-based teaching methods was assessed through surveys and comparisons of grades with those of students in the 2022 class who were taught using traditional methods. Results: In this study, 93.62% of the students reported an enhanced teaching effect after altering the experimental teaching method. Meanwhile, the proportion of students who did not understand the observation slices declined from 12.77% to 1.06%, while those who were not very active or passive declined from 43.62% to 21.28%. Importantly, the scores of experimental and final exams for the 2023 grade of students taught by interesting teaching method were significantly higher than those of the 2022 grade of students taught by traditional teaching method (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The application of flipped classroom and game teaching, piqued students' curiosity, kindled their interest in learning, and amplified their learning enthusiasm and self-learning ability.