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This review is the result of an in-person collaborative review discussion organized and hosted by the School of Information Sciences, Global Education and Training, and Intensive English Institute as part of the Bolashak Fellowship Program 2024-2025 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The discussion was held on February 18, 2025 and joined by 18 people:  3 facilitators - Janaynne, Wendy, Krista, and 15 Bolashak fellows. We thank all participants who contributed to the discussion and made it possible for us to provide feedback on this preprint.

Summary paragraph

The study attempts to answer the following research questions: How to improve engagement  of high school students in virology education through fiction and gamification? Can the use of science fiction and gamification improve the engagement and comprehension of virology concepts among high school students? How to improve the education effectiveness by using virology teaching with science fiction and gamification? The authors effectively articulate the need for innovative teaching methods due to the inherent challenges of virology education, such as abstract concepts and low student engagement. 

The main goal of the study is to develop and test a new teaching method that combines science fiction and active methodologies to make virology learning more engaging and understandable for high school students. The study is important because it raises the problem of engagement of students, creating new methodologies of learning materials.  In addition, it helps to understand how modern content creating techniques can help in improving education effectiveness.

To address the research questions, the authors are using a suitable combination of experimental and qualitative methods, including a science fiction video and two questionnaires. In the experimental study, 20 students of the second year of the secondary school of science and technology took part in the study. During the experiment, the participants watched an 18-minute science fiction film  accompanied by a questionnaire on the main concepts of virology. 

One of their main findings is that using science fiction and gamification to teach virology was highly effective, with 95% of students evaluating it positively and demonstrating good content understanding, significantly preferring this interactive approach over traditional teaching methods.

The most interesting aspect of the research is how science fiction and gamification were successfully used to make a traditionally challenging subject like virology more engaging and easier to understand, being more effective and involving, vivid for students comprehension. We particularly liked how the study incorporates animated videos, AI-generated voices, and gamified assessments, aligning with modern student preferences. In addition, the authors emphasize the student-centered approach: Unlike traditional rote learning, this approach empowers students to actively engage with the content.

Although the study demonstrates the potential of innovative teaching techniques, paving the way for more engaging and effective education methods, there are some concerns and aspects of the manuscript that need to be improved prior to its final publication.

Major issues

• Concerns with methods/data

  •  The study’s conclusions may not be generalizable to a broader student population.  For future studies we suggest increasing the sample size and ensure a more diverse demographic. 

  • The raw dataset is not available, which limits the analysis. Without raw dataset, other researchers can’t verify or replicate the study’s findings. 

  • The study  measures the immediate engagement and comprehension in perception, However this is not efficient in assessment of long-term for student understanding of virology.

  Concerns with techniques/analysis

  • The study uses appropriate methods like quizzes and student feedback to test if science fiction and gamification help learning, but it lacks a control group to compare results with traditional teaching. Without this, we can’t be sure if the method is truly better or if any fun activity would work the same. Also, the study only checks short-term learning and doesn’t test if students remember the material weeks later. To improve the study, researchers should add a control group, test long-term memory, and analyze mistakes better to see if this method really improves learning.

  • There is no detailed explanation of the video. This gap can be improved by providing a breakdown of its content and key virology concepts covered.

Minor issues

• Concerns with techniques/analysis

  • Only two surveys were given after the video, the number of students was only 20. There is not a pre test to check the students’ knowledge. The author didn’t use the method of statistical analysis ( comparison of validity of difference before and after).

  • The methods are described in detail, making the study replicable. The authors provide clear explanations about the process of video development, including animation tools used. The design of the questionnaires and how they were implemented. The data collection and analysis procedures. However, future studies should consider refining the methodology by incorporating a larger, more diverse sample and including a comparison group to better isolate the impact of the intervention.

  • The study tries to  measure the immediate engagement and comprehension in perception. However this is not efficient in assessment of long-term for student understanding of virology.

  Concerns with figures and tables

  • As shown in Chart 1, the structure of question №2 requires revision, as it confirms the significant difference between the correct and incorrect answers in the questionnaire.

  • Figures and tables are mostly clear and easy to read. Bar charts could use clearer labels to make the comparisons easier to interpret.

  • Displayed data on this article is clear and enough for understand initial data therefore the tables show duplicated answers and it could be grouped. According to Figure 3, it could be improved by adding some details about what goes on

  • The results are well-presented through charts and tables, making the findings easy to interpret.  However, some charts lack detailed descriptions—for instance, error rates in the quiz questions could be compared against expected baseline knowledge.

  • We suggest the use of contemporary tools of visualization for charts and diagrams.

    Concluding remarks

  This study is creative and interesting, showing how gamification and storytelling can make science learning more fun. We would recommend this manuscript especially for educators, instructional designers, and researchers interested in active learning, gamification, and innovative teaching methods. 

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.