Perceptions of First-year MBBS Students towards Kahoot! as a Formative Assessment Tool in Medical Education: A Quasi-experimental Study from Howrah, India
Abstract
Introduction: Kahoot! is a gamified, real-time student response system that leverages game-design elements such as leaderboards, instant feedback, and time-based quizzes to enhance student engagement and formative assessment in educational settings. With the implementation of CompetencyBased Medical Education (CBME) in India — which emphasises active learning and continuous formative feedback-evaluating the acceptability and perceived utility of such tools among preclinical medical students is important. Aim: To assess the perceptions of first-year MBBS students regarding Kahoot! as a formative assessment tool, with respect to engagement, enjoyment, learning impact, ease of use, and gender differences in perception. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental single-group post-test study was conducted among 115 first-year MBBS students of Biochemistry at JIS School of Medical Science and Research, Howrah, West Bengal, India, during NovemberDecember 2025. Consecutive sampling was used. A 12-item, five-point Likert scale questionnaire adapted from the validated instrument of Ismail and Mohammad was administered online. One open-ended question was also added. Descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests, Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for analysis. Results: Of 115 respondents, 97 (84.3%) agreed or strongly agreed that they enjoyed Kahoot! sessions; 95 (82.6%) perceived improved class interactivity; 88 (76.5%) reported improved subject understanding; 99 (86.1%) found the platform easy to use; and 94 (81.7%) recommended Kahoot! for future classes. Technical issues were reported by only 22 (19.1%) students. Time-pressure anxiety was mixed: 38 (33.0%) agreed, 20 (17.4%) were neutral and 57 (49.6%) disagreed. No significant gender differences were observed (Mann-Whitney U, p-value>0.05 for all items). Two types of opinions emerged from the open-ended question: engagement/motivation and technical/stress concerns. Conclusion: First-year MBBS students perceived Kahoot! as an engaging, user-friendly, and educationally beneficial formative assessment tool. Contextually judicious integration into CBME-oriented undergraduate medical teaching is supported. Multicentric studies examining objective learning outcomes are warranted.