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Education & Educational Research
The adoption of the active learning paradigm presents a series of challenges and uncertainties. However, its adoption may result in better academic results and a more engaging attitude towards learning. Within game-based learning, escape rooms are one of the most popular instances. Commercial escape rooms paved the way to educational escape rooms, where students make use of their skills to solve problems, which eventually will let them “escape” a room in a certain way.
- active learning
- escape room
- flipped classroom
- gamification
- innovative education
1. Introduction
The use of gamification to drive active learning in on-site classes has been widely spread in recent years as a way to enhance learners’ engagement [1]. The introduction of game design elements within nongame contexts makes possible to enhance motivation in education, which leads to better performance according to what is appreciated by learning analytics [2]. Furthermore, gamification may be seen as a driving force to achieve the Sustainability Development Goal 4, sponsored by United Nations, related to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education [3].
Focusing on the setup of gamification techniques into active learning deployments may boost students’ interest, improving the digital skills development expected at the workplace within the digital society. This leads to better academic achievements and an overall more satisfying learning process for learners [4]. In other words, gamification definitely facilitates active learning, which helps shrink the gap associated with education disparities and lack of motivation, specially in STEM-related subjects [5].
It may be said that the COVID-19 pandemic was the main catalyst for transformation in education in recent years, which led teachers to be more oriented towards the use of innovative teaching methods and tools [6]. On the other hand, students had to quickly become familiar with innovative e-learning tools and online classes, which opened up the door to apply diverse learning strategies once the pandemic emergency was over, such as e-learning, in both a traditional and hybrid form, where the first one implies purely online classes, the second one involves purely on-site classes and the third one allows blended learning, also known as extended learning, where part of the students are on-site and the rest are online, in such a way that all students may interact with each other and with the teacher [7].
Regarding the relationship between traditions and innovations in the pedagogical process, it appears that innovations enhance the educational process, although significant positive results are only achieved if pedagogical traditions are preserved, which means that pedagogical innovation must include traditionally oriented elements [8]. Apart from that, a good learning environment is widely related to different attributes according to diverse conceptual spaces in the educational process, such as variation and flexibility regarding the physical space, as well as active and self-directed learning with respect to the pedagogical space, and also safety with regards to the social space [9].
On the other hand, it is to be noted that there is a gap between research and practice when it comes to innovative education, as the impact of educational research knowledge is not being implemented in classrooms on a regular basis, as researchers’ works are often considered to be too theoretical, irrelevant and inaccessible and time consuming by practitioners [10]. In order to cope, researchers and practitioners should be connected together by policy makers, also referred to as knowledge brokers, whose role should be key in bridging educational research to educational practice [11].
Regardless, active learning may be seen as a generalized instructional process being characterized along two dimensions, such as for constructing knowledge and for deepening engagement, where the former may be viewed as antithetical to passive learning and the latter as antithetical to lecture [12]. This way, acquiring specific competences and skills is more engaging for scholars [13], whereas tutors act more as dynamizers and facilitators of the whole learning process by assisting and guiding in the process of scholars gaining knowledge and self-development [14].
There are different approaches to applying active learning in the classroom; thus, diverse strategies in designing in-class activities may be taken so as to engage scholars with both the material and each other, such as self-directed learning (SDL), student-centered learning (SCL) and flipped classrooms (FC) [15]. All three types move out of traditional-based passive learning, where the teacher takes responsibility for the learning process, thus passing such a responsibility of learning on to students, and hence moving information transmission out of the classroom [16], leading teachers to also take the role of brokers of both curricular knowledge and transversal competences [17].
Focusing on the flipped classroom paradigm, a common approach is the use of videos to convey information to scholars, which should be watched beforehand, making students contributors to the learning process. This allows them to make better use of time with their peers, as well as with the teacher [18]. Some of the benefits of this approach are the increased motivation and involvement of scholars both outside and inside the classroom, the improvement of comprehension and retention of the subjects taught, the enhanced development of competences and skills and the increase in satisfaction of both teachers and students [19].
Active learning activities are often linked to gamification, which may be seen as the application of game elements, not a fully fledged game, into a nongame environment, such as in a classroom [20]. On the other hand, such activities are frequently tied to game-based learning, which may be viewed as fully fledged games developed to provide new concepts and skills through the use of digital or nondigital games [21].
Within game-based learning, escape rooms are one of the most popular instances. Commercial escape rooms paved the way to educational escape rooms, where students make use of their skills to solve problems, which eventually will let them “escape” a room in a certain way [22]. This way, escape rooms are employed in educational contexts, aiming to promote cooperation, motivation and engagement [23].
2. Escape Rooms in Educational Environments
Escape rooms are used in educational contexts as a didactic tool for both teaching and learning [24]. Such escape rooms are gameful experiences where participants form part of a compelling narrative, which gets them immersed into a collaborative and motivating adventure [25]. In order to complete the plot, players have to achieve the final objective of the game, given at the beginning by the game master, which may only be reached by solving a series of puzzles, missions and challenges related to the content of the curriculum within a given time limit [26].
Educational escape rooms may be completed live in the classroom or online, and they may use physical or digital tools and techniques to achieve the expected target [27]. One of the most commonly adopted descriptions of a escape room for education was coined by Nicholson, who defined it as a “live-action team-based game where players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal (usually escaping from the room) in a limited amount of time” [28].
Therefore, an educational escape room presents the chance to engage the scholars in game-based learning because, as cited by Monaghan, “this offers a non-traditional, experiential, peer-group learning opportunity that fosters constructive interactions, leading to observations of one’s own and others’ unique leadership skills and styles” [29]. This way, one of the main targets is for students to feel that harnessing their individual talents makes them stronger as a team, whilst improving team-based learning [30].
Educational escape rooms may be applied to any educational degree and any subject within that scope, as a positive outcome is not only achieved by gaining basic curricular knowledge, but also transversal contents such as the development of social skills and attitudes, such as strong communication skills and team work ability [31]. It has to be said that gamification in general provides benefits focusing on four main areas: cognitive, emotional, social and motivational. In this sense, the pleasure and enjoyment experienced through the escape room increase the engagement in work and learning [32].
It is to be remarked that the skill and the challenge score should both be high, in such a way that the task becomes motivating for the player, where a flow state is achieved, according to the quadrant model of flow, established by Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory [33]. Hence, any other combination of both factors may lead to unwanted results, such that low skill and high challenge results in anxiety, whilst low skill and low challenge leads to apathy, whereas high skill and low challenge cause boredom [34].
All activities found within an escape room are called puzzles. Basically, these puzzles use a simple game loop, such as a challenge to overcome, a solution which may be concealed and a reward for overcoming the challenge. This way, the puzzle keeps the solution hidden and it is up to the team to solve the puzzle to pass the challenge so as to achieve the prize [35]. Analogously, the challenge could be seen as a locked box, the solution as the combination and the reward as the content of the box.
Puzzles may be categorized as cognitive ones, which require thinking skills and logic; physical ones, which require the manipulation of artifacts; and meta-puzzles, which labels the last puzzle in a game, where the final solution is derived from the previous puzzles [36]. On the other hand, there are basically four ways to organize puzzles, where there is always a meta-puzzle to conclude the game. The first one is open path, where puzzles may be resolved in any sequence; the second one is a sequential or linear path, where solving a puzzle provides a clue for the next puzzle to be solved; the third one is path based, where there may be several paths of puzzles; and the fourth one is the combination of the previous structures, forming a hybrid structure [37].
Many studies have been carried out to assess the usefulness of escape rooms as active learning tools in higher education. For instance, some bachelor’s degree final projects have been devoted to escape rooms, such as that of [38], who proposed an instance called “fits and tolerances” devoted to the metrology part related to mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering, or [39], who designed an instance in the form of a video game entitled “laboratory 93” consisting of a 2D escape room with the use of BLE beacons for interacting with different rooms in the real world.
Likewise, some master’s degree final projects have also been dedicated to escape rooms, such as [40], who developed an escape room to evaluate the skills of a candidate applying for a vacant position, or [41], who designed a mobile application so as to keep record of all games performed. Additionally, some dissertations or PhDs have also focused on escape rooms, such as [42], who described an instance exploring the effects on perceptions of team processes and perceived team effectiveness, or [43], who presented an instance to deliver effective leadership training.
On the other hand, some master’s degree theses in secondary school teaching have been devoted to escape rooms to be applied to teenage scholars, such as [44], who proposed a breakout activity for students to get to know each other at the beginning of their first year of high school, as well as an escape room for the technology subject in that course in order to consolidate all knowledge acquired during the whole year. Additionally, ref. [45] designed an escape room to consolidate the basics of chemistry, focusing on the periodic table, as well as to formulate and name inorganic compounds, which are studied during the third year of high school. Additionally, ref. [46] plotted an escape room so as to retrieve the knowledge learnt in geometry classes during the third year of high school.
Moreover, ref. [47] proposes an escape room to review the concept of algebraic equation of the first and second degree, as well as different strategies of problem solving, which are taught during the second year of high school. Meanwhile, ref. [48] exposes an escape room devoted to auditing the knowledge acquired in the subject of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for students in their third year of high school. Furthermore, Ref. [49] exhibits an escape room prepared for a range of Dutch secondary education students aged 16 to 20 related to consolidating their knowledge acquired in the biology lessons.
Focusing on higher education, specifically in medical science, ref. [50] proposes an escape room combining vascular surgery objectives, knowledge-based problems and technical skills to undertake the activity designed with time constraints. Meanwhile, Ref. [51] presents an immersive escape room to help resident trainees identify reportable patient safety priorities, where instructions for the game and clues to solve the puzzles are provided by means of quick response (QR) codes. Moreover, ref. [52] exhibits an escape room for nursery students for them to not only show their knowledge but demonstrate how to put it into practice, as well as showing transversal skills such as working under pressure, leadership or ability to work as a team.
Keeping to higher education, specifically in mathematics-related subjects, ref. [53] exposes an escape room initiative for math subjects in the degree of Pharmacy and Nursing during the pandemic lockdown and later restrictions to be performed in hybrid mode, e.g., online and in person at the same time. Meanwhile, ref. [54] presents an escape room to consolidate the knowledge of linear algebra in engineering, whilst [55] conducts a similar approach, although its target is focused on calculus.
As a matter of fact, existing literature about escape rooms in education comprises all levels, from primary school to higher education, and all fields, such physics or computing science, where students report high engagement, which implies they acquire new knowledge and skills by playing [56]. It is to be remarked that gamification and game-based learning have the same goal, as this also happens with serious educational games, even though they are all different in practice [57]. Regarding the latter, it may be seen as a custom-built game with a specific learning target; thus it need not be entertaining.
It is to be noted that gamification is commonly applied as an extra layer within existing environments, training or learning programs, whilst game-based learning is commonly conducted using existing games which may be repurposed for the learning target, whereas serious games are usually created from scratch for a specific objective. However, all of them usually share some design elements to enhance learning, such as rapid feedback, immersion, flow, clear goals, freedom to fail, collaboration, reflection and iteration [58].
At the end of the day, interactive classes start substituting master classes by means of gamification, game-based learning, serious educational games and other active learning techniques, where students become motivated to carry out their own learning process whilst having fun [59]. In this sense, active learning through a learning management system may be a centralized point for scholars to obtain study materials, as well as discussion forums and questionnaires, which may be further extended by including active learning activities such as digital escape rooms.
Furthermore, such systems may be also employed to obtain descriptive statistics out of quizzes or inductive statistics out of feedback provided by students. Additionally, motivation may be boosted by awarding digital badges to students for reaching some targets or for their performance in class, whereas leaderboards may motivate them to take a more active role during in class. Therefore, it may be said that a learning management system is definitely a tool that increases students’ involvement during active learning [60].
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/educsci13060535
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