Escape Room Research Articles

An evaluation of undergraduate student nurses' gameful experience whilst playing a digital escape room as part of a FIRST year module: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundThe circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated the use of digital teaching and learning in health professions education. Digital gamification-based teaching and learning activities are innovative and versatile tools for the acquisition of professional competencies in higher education, which can be used on a range of topics and can be supplemental to other teaching methods. ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate nursing students' gameful experience whilst playing a digital escape room. In addition, we aimed to analyze the students' motivation, learning experience and outcome of the activity, and the students' perception of the degree of achievement of the intended learning outcomes. DesignCross-sectional descriptive study. ParticipantsA total of 136 undergraduate first year student nurses enrolled in a “Fundamentals of Nursing” course. MethodThe digital escape room game took place online during the academic year 2020–2021. The measures included the GAMEX scale in its Spanish version and a self-reported questionnaire to evaluate the outcome of the scape room game and the degree of achievement of the intended learning outcomes. ResultsMore than 80 % of the participants were moderately to very motivated to play the game. Three GAMEX dimensions achieved a mean score of 3 or above 3, namely Enjoyment, Creative Thinking and Absence of Negative effects. The mean score for each of the outcome variables was over 3. However, the degree of achievement of the learning outcomes after exiting the digital escape room was uneven. ConclusionGamification-based teaching and learning activities, such as digital escape rooms, can be effective in fostering specific skills, including teamwork, communication and critical thinking. However, they should be designed carefully, and used as a complement, rather than a substitute, of other educational activities.

Virtual escape rooms for therapeutic communication in nursing education.

Virtual escape rooms for therapeutic communication in nursing education.

Influence of the Algorithmization Process on the Mathematical Competence: A Case Study of Trainee Teachers Assessing ABN- and CBC-Instructed Schoolchildren by Gamification

In this manuscript, schoolchild mathematical competencies have been assessed by using educational gamification methodologies; specifically, Educational Escape Rooms (EER). To ease the interpretation of results, Spanish schoolchildren trained by using two different methodologies (ABN and CBC) were selected to participate in the experience. The gamified environment used as assessment tool was co-designed by trainee teachers, on-service teachers, and university researchers. The design was implemented in different educational centers and the results were transcribed to deliver a didactic analysis. Among the findings of this study, we uncovered: (i) the reduction of the math anxiety, (ii) the different performance of the schoolchild involved—ABN students show an additional and positive 10% development of certain mathematical competences—and (iii) a positive didactic-mathematic development of the participant trainee teachers.

1001 Surgical Escape Rooms: A Novel Approach for Teaching Surgical Skills

Abstract Aim Traditional classroom-based teaching of surgical skills has been used commonly in the past. Although, use of an escape room is a new form of a practical teaching method to deliver surgical skills teaching. We compared and assessed effectiveness of the traditional classroom teaching versus practical escape room teaching of the basic surgical skills. Method Two teaching sessions were delivered to third year medical students. Each session consisted of two groups and two sessions. Each group received either the classroom-based teaching or the escape room teaching, then switching over to the other teaching. Each student was asked to complete a questionnaire before the session, after the first and the second teaching session. Teaching covered interrupted suturing, wound management, and administration of local aesthetic. Likert scores were used to collect feedback. Results Total 24 third year medical students attended the two teaching sessions. 100% either agreed or strongly agreed the classroom teaching was useful, compared to 75% for the escape room. 67% either agreed or strongly agreed that escape room style teaching is a better learning method than traditional teaching. Although, 79% either agree or strongly agree that escape room style teaching is a useful adjunct to the traditional teaching. 100% either agree or strongly agree that this teaching will improve their clinical practice. Conclusions Traditional classroom-based teaching is a more useful form of teaching compared to the escape room. Although escape room teaching is a useful adjunct to the current common form of classroom based surgical teaching.

971 Gamification of Education; Can Playable Education Result in Better Learning Outcomes?

Abstract Aim Combining traditional simulation (TS) and the emerging field of gamification, to create medical Escape Rooms (ERS) has been used in Nursing to good results but is yet to be widely adopted in medical education. We conducted a pilot study to create ERS for undergraduates to assess their educational value. Method Existing Simulation themes of sepsis, post-operative bleeding, trauma, burns and communication in the theatre environment were developed into Escape Rooms by a multidisciplinary team. A cross over study for 4th year students was carried out. Questionnaires were used to evaluate the experience, learning assessed by pre and post quiz and observational tools for teamwork, communication and leadership were utilised. Results Qualitative data demonstrated overall good feedback on enjoyment an engagement. Quantitative data collected as pre- and post-exposure learning demonstrated equivocal benefit. Self-assessed teamwork showed equal in all domains and improved in contribution of knowledge and maintaining team focus on the ER group. Conclusions Participants find ER enjoyable have similar educational benefits of traditional simulation with the benefits on enhancing non-technical skills amongst a novice group. Escape rooms may be useful as an adjunct to TS particularly at developing non-technical skills.

977 Breaking Out of Tradition: Designing Escape Rooms as Novel Simulation

Abstract Aim The emerging field of gamification, the addition of game play elements to non-game settings, is widely used in business and is increasingly being used in education. Successful methods have included live leader boards and a web-based game solving a protein folding conundrum. Method We designed an escape room (ER), incorporating gaming elements, focussing on communication in a surgical environment. A cross over study was delivered to 4th year medical students, comparing traditional simulation. The ER included logic puzzles, hidden clues, padlocked boxes, and surgical skills appropriate to their level. Self-reported engagement and teamwork were recorded, as was observed teamwork and communication skills. Results Self-reported engagement was very high for the students compared to more traditional simulation, including better understanding of effective communication strategies. The ER group were less likely to self-identify learning points but structured debrief mitigated this difference. Conclusions Gamification techniques can be integrated with good engagement and educational outcomes and should be considered as an adjunct to existing simulation strategy.

Creating an escape room activity to enrich students’ undergraduate management education

Educational escape rooms are beneficial for student learning as it relates to critical thinking, decision making under time constraints and practical exploration of real-life work scenarios. This type of learning experience is beneficial across many disciplines with emphasis for healthcare management due to the dynamic nature and common pressures of professional healthcare. The following paper contributes to existing literature by presenting an educational escape room designed as a pedagogical innovation for teaching healthcare management. Future research and future assessment directives are discussed.

Escaping delirium: Designing an escape room active learning experience for geriatric resource nurses

Use of a delirium escape room is an effective teaching modality that has demonstrated the application of didactic knowledge into clinical practice. Positive comments were shared by all participating nurses. In addition, this learning method was found to be effective for experienced as well as newly licensed nurses. This team building activity evolved into discussions about real life patients who experienced delirium and each group was able to connect the contributing factors with their patients. Communication, coordination, and collaboration were key components as to what lead to a successful escape for all in the end. Participant's evaluations revealed positive feedback indicating appreciation for this hands-on learning activity and “making it an enjoyable and memorable experience.”

An online escape room used to support the growth of teamwork in health professions students.

Effective teamwork in the online environment is essential to patient care and safety. The need for training health professionals to work together on a virtual interprofessional team has become even more important since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as telehealth, or the provision of virtual healthcare to patients, has become more common. This resource describes the development of an online escape room activity using free online resources. The activity aimed to enhance health profession students’ abilities to communicate effectively, work together to complete a task, and develop knowledge of the unique roles of healthcare team members in a course dedicated to interprofessional education. Teams of five to seven students met online and completed seven puzzles to escape a virtual room. Results obtained from the pre-post surveys of 176 students across six disciplines showed the activity aided in increasing participants perceptions of their ability to communicate respectfully and work together to complete a task, while developing knowledge of the unique roles of members of the healthcare team, all components of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies. This activity lays the groundwork for collaborative, interprofessional activities, such as telehealth, which students will be exposed to in their futures, and the results infer that the activity can help to build collaboration among team members, even team members that are not in the same physical space.

The Iterative Development of an Online Multiplayer Escape Room Game for Improving Social Interaction through Edutainment

The Iterative Development of an Online Multiplayer Escape Room Game for Improving Social Interaction through Edutainment

WE3.8 Surgical Escape Rooms: A Novel Approach for teaching surgical skills

Abstract Aim Escape rooms are a novel form of a practical teaching and simulation demonstrated to be effective in medical education. We compared the effectiveness of the traditional didactic teaching compared to a novel escape room style teaching of basic surgical skills Method A crossover study was delivered to two groups of third year medical students. Each group received either the classroom based teaching or the escape room teaching first, were assessed, then received the remaining style. Each student was asked to complete a questionnaire before the session, then after each teaching session. Teaching covered interrupted suturing, simple wound management and administration of local anaesthesia. Assessment was undertaken with confidence scoring with Likert scales, a 10 questions quiz and 5 minute suturing assessment after each teaching session. Results 24 third year medical students attended. 100% either agreed or strongly agreed the classroom teaching was useful, compared to 75% for the escape room. 79% either agree or strongly agree that escape room style teaching is a useful adjunct to the traditional teaching. 21% either strongly agree or agree they felt confident about suturing before the session compared to 88%. The average number of correctly answered questions were 8 post teaching sessions, compared to 5 post escape rooms. The mean number of correctly applied sutures were 3 post teaching sessions compared to 2 post escape rooms. Conclusion Traditional practical teaching is still the preferred method of teaching and effective form of teaching. Although escape room teaching is a useful adjunct to the traditional classroom based surgical teaching.

"The Da Vinci Code for IP Research": Case Study of a Course-Integrated Educational Escape Room for Entrepreneurship Education

Educational escape rooms can engage students in the development of information literacy skills while interacting with information formats and environments authentic to their disciplines. In business and entrepreneurship education, escape rooms offer the additional benefit of developing the characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset, such as adaptive thinking, problem solving, enthusiasm, and decisiveness. This case study explores game-based learning for library instruction in entrepreneurship education. Using Eukel and Morrell’s (2021) escape room design cycle as a framework, it analyzes the development, testing, implementation, and results of an original escape room, Exfiltration! A Competitive Intelligence Virtual Escape Room, implemented as a course-integrated information literacy learning activity in an upper-level undergraduate new venture creation course. Limitations of the escape room are identified, and opportunities for iterative improvement are described. Recent scholarship on the application of entrepreneurial mindset, business research competencies, gamification, escape room pedagogy, and escape rooms in library instruction is discussed. This case study responds to the call from Taraldsen et al. (2020) for more small-scale studies of educational escape rooms outside of the STEM and health science disciplines.

Escape room as a teaching method

Escape Room is a collaborative game designed to contain various clues, logical puzzles and tasks that a group of people need to complete in a limited period of time. The objective of the game is to escape from a physical room or find a hidden object. A game created for pedagogical purposes is usually called an educational escape room. It is based on Gamification and Game-based Learning. Its main advantage is the increase of students' engagement and motivation for mastering the curriculum. In addition, the development of soft skills also plays an extremely important role during the game.
 Teachers around the world are increasingly aware of the importance of soft skills that play a huge role in properly preparing students for the world of universities and the labor market . In contrast, traditional education does not always provide the right tools to improve student achievement in these areas .
 Thanks to the shift from traditional didactic models to the approach of active learning, escape rooms are increasingly used in academic life as a method of experiential, peer-to-peer, and game-based learning. Educational Escape rooms are emerging as a new type of learning activity, with the promise of enhancing student learning through interesting and engaging experiences.
 The present study aims to present the methodological possibilities of escape rooms for educational purposes, drawing on the existing literature. In addition, we will present a theoretical framework that is a guide to creators for creating escape room games for educational purposes. Our scientific goal is the development and measurement of the soft skills (collaboration and problem solving) of students.

SCAPE ROOM AS A SENSITIZATION AND EDUCATION STRATEGY ABOUT PRESSURE INJURY PREVENTION

Objective: To report the experience of using the escape room as an educational and awareness strategy for the prevention of pressure injuries in the hospital context. Methods: This is an experience report about an activity developed in November 2021, with professionals from the multidisciplinary team of a large philanthropic hospital located in the metropolitan region of São Paulo (SP), Brazil. Results: The game was played as an educational strategy associated with other initiatives on the issue, during the annual pressure injury prevention campaign. Eighty-two professionals participated in the activity, including nurses, nursing technicians, nutritionists, and physiotherapists. A total of 57 participants (69.5%) managed to unravel the proposed puzzles and leave the escape room in the proposed time. The reaction evaluation showed a high level of satisfaction with the activity, in addition to numerous compliments on the chosen methodology, as well as the creativity in which the topic was approached and developed. Conclusion: The use of a methodology based on the interaction of the participants, such as escape rooms, associated with other educational activities seems to be interesting to promote learning and awareness about pressure injury prevention.

Nursing students' experience using an escape room for training clinical skills and competencies on emergency care: A qualitative observational study.

Game-based learning is increasing in nursing education. Also, the assessment of the utility of the escape room game is growing. To explore nursing students’ opinion about the escape room as an evaluation game, a qualitative observational study with nursing students was carried out. An ad hoc questionnaire with open questions was sent after the game learning experience. The escape room included knowledge and techniques from different specialties. The escape room learning game was a positive experience for the students. The main highlighted characteristics were fun, dynamic, and motivating way to study and learn. Other interesting variables were: “Working as a team and under pressure” (It’s a group activity in which everyone must work together. It is a good challenge to learn how to work in urgent situations) and “Different way to assess students´ learning” (In this type of game, I can show more things and not only theoretical knowledge). Game-based learning is increasing in nursing education, as well as the assessment of the utility of the escape room game. Using an escape room for assessing nursing students’ knowledge is a positive experience. This learning experience can be also used with nurses in different specialties to promote teamwork and working under pressure.

Prospects for the use of educational escape room in training psychologists to provide help in crisis situations

Introduction. Training psychologists to provide help in crisis situations should include the formation of not only a high level of professional skills (hard skills), but also a range of social skills (soft skills), including skills of creativity, critical thinking, effective communication, time-management, flexibility and stress resistance, which requires to implement the advance forms and methods of learning. One of such innovation, which is actively implemented in higher education for the development of flexible skills in specialists in various specialties, is the use of educational escape room (EER) as a new form of game learning. That is why to analyze the feasibility of introducing a new form of education into the training of practical psychologists is very relevant. Aim. To identify prospects for use of EER to train psychologists to provide help in crisis situations, as well as for their professional and personal development. Results. A significant number of publications on the researched problem testifies to the high interest of the educational community in the implementation of new intellectual forms of game learning in higher education institutions. The article reveals the meaning of the concept of "educational escape room", as well as the importance of use EER for development of social skills (soft skills) in future psychologists. The expediency and possibility of using EER to train psychologists to provide help in crisis situations are analyzed. The authors of the article see the expediency and prospects of using EER for professional development of psychologists in such fields as organizational psychology, economic psychology, business psychology, conflict psychology, health psychology, educational psychology and others. Conclusions.The information presented in the article can be useful in the implementation of quest technology for the professional and theoretical training of future psychologists, as well as for the development of their social skills.

Integrating Immersive Experiences to Instruction through BreakoutEDU

This study employed an escape room motif to engage students to use information literacy course material to solve puzzles. Students practiced research techniques in a classroom environment that bypassed their expectations of traditional course instruction. Instructor objectives were to increase student engagement with the course material, and to foster teamwork among students in a cooperative learning environment. Authors initially obtained 9 kits from Breakout EDU, a company specializing in immersive games. Games were devised for three of the course units, with each unit identifying 4-5 information literacy skills or concepts. The puzzles were focused on reinforcement of the key concepts. After each escape room class session, students completed a short survey. At the end of the semester students completed another survey about their experiences. Over 80% of students indicated the games helped them understand course concepts. Comparisons of final grades in the gamified courses with previous, non-gamified courses revealed that students achieved more A’s and fewer D’s and F’s in the gamified courses. Future directions for study include flipping game design to student groups, and further analysis of correlations between concepts learned through traditional teaching techniques and those learned in Breakout EDU classes.

Sounding escape: examining the sonic contours of play and story in The Author’s Enigma

ABSTRACT This article draws on video data from a larger empirical project tracing how five adults learned to escape a series of complex multi-linear escape rooms. Zeroing in one room, The Author’s Enigma, it interrogates sound as a design feature and more-than-representational resource that co-produced play. Refracted through more conceptual and methodological conversations concerning the sonic, analyses highlight how sound mediated participant interaction and shaped the encounter of escape through affective sonic encounters. As this article suggests, sound was both a mediating resource and an atmosphere. Using transcription as theory, authors demonstrate how sound – as an atmosphere and vibrational force – forwarded activity and produced moments of affective resonance.

An escape room activity to teach transitions-of-care: Student perceptions and lessons learned

Introduction: Outside of experiential pharmacy education, there is a lack of curricular innovations focused on teaching transitions-of-care (TOC) to pharmacy students. Description of Innovation: A TOC escape room activity was implemented for pharmacy students after learning about diabetes management in the didactic curriculum. A perceptions survey and pre-and post-activity knowledge assessment were administered to assess student knowledge attainment and allow for continual improvement of the activity. Evaluation: The majority of students perceived that the escape room activity improved their readiness to treat patients with diabetes during care transitions. The escape room significantly improved knowledge, as demonstrated by an increase in mean scores between pre-and post-activity knowledge assessments. Future Implementation: Though the escape room activity was perceived by pharmacy students as an enjoyable opportunity to apply material from a didactic setting, many challenges related to content development, assessment administration, logistics, and material complexity were experienced.

Student-Designed Nutrition Escape Games to Improve Clinical Competency and Engagement

Escape room gaming is an active learning simulation experience used in health care education that engages the learner and may improve student performance in time management, team building, knowledge development, and problem-solving.1–9 Escape rooms can take place in person or online, individually or in teams, be designed by the instructor or the students, and use a variety of props such as high fidelity manikins, clinical equipment, electronic medical records, and lockboxes.3,10 Involving students in game creation provides them with an engaging opportunity to learn and use new knowledge while giving them power and control over the educational experience.