Games + Learning + Society Conference Proceedings

Whack-a-Mole is a melanoma identification training game developed at the University of Miami to evaluate the effectiveness of different identification training techniques using immediate personalized feedback. Two widely implemented training systems are used to identify malignant melanoma through a skin exam: ABCDE, a mnemonic for the five factors that increase likely diagnoses, and the ugly duckling sign (UDS). The game system randomized the training types the player received, in addition to a hybrid approach and a control condition. The game delivered standard and motivational feedback to a subset of players in each of these conditions as they identified moles. Both the standard feedback and motivational feedback led to higher perceived self-efficacy as compared to conditions with no feedback, regardless of whether or not the player was successful at identifying malignant moles.