Individuals' conceptual knowledge of contemporary biological issues influences ethical attitudes and life decisions around health, as evidenced by the recent worldwide debate on vaccinations. The ...reasons for which the public opinion is so critically divided can be partially explained from the didactic approaches used in biology education. In view of the rapid evolution of Virtual Reality (VR) as well as the increasing interest that youths have shown toward Escape Rooms (ER), an unexplored research and development avenue is identified. In this experimental study, we present the design and development steps as well as the evaluation of a VRER dedicated to biology education. For comparison purposes, an educational instructional video utilising the storytelling technique was also prepared. Both approaches were examined in the upper secondary education context with participants (N = 50) emerging from the Applied Sciences academic path. The key-findings suggest that the active learning approach leads to increased knowledge acquisition, in the short term, as opposed to the passive learning approach but no significant differences were identified in the long term (knowledge retention) across the methods. Based on the instructional decisions made and the key-findings emerged we provide implications and guidelines for the design, development, and integration of VRER in education.
Interprofessional education is a key component of preparing health professional students to become collaborative practice-ready graduates. In the design and delivery of activities, educators seek ...ways to enhance student participation and learning with the goal of developing students' collaborative practice capabilities. Traditionally, learning formats have largely maintained a clinical focus to enable students to learn with, from and about each other's roles as health professionals. In recent years, escape rooms have emerged as an innovative teaching approach within interprofessional education. Utilising gamification, escape rooms require students to work collaboratively, employing teamwork, communication, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills to 'escape' a set scenario. This article explores our experience of using escape rooms as an interprofessional education strategy. Additionally, we report on trialling a non-clinical focus within the activity as an alternative means of educating students for collaborative practice.
Innovation has allowed for and developed new ways of teaching and learning. Gamification is among the new training methodologies, which is a didactic approach based on the game structure with an ...attractive component for students. Within gamification, flipped learning and problem-based learning, escape rooms can be found as a technical aspect, which is focused on providing enigmas and tracks for the various educational content that students have assimilated through learning based on problem solving. The aim of this study is to identify how the use of gamification with the use of educational escape rooms affects activation and absence of a negative effect on students. 61 Master students of the Autonomous City of Ceuta participated in this case study. They were divided into three study groups (1 control group; 2 experimental groups) that followed different formative actions (control group-traditional; experimental groups-escape rooms). To achieve the objectives, a mixed research design based on quantitative and qualitative techniques was followed. The instrument used for data collection was the GAMEX (Gameful Experience Scale). The results reveal that the students who had taken a gamified formative action through escape rooms obtained better assessment results in the indicators concerning motivation, teamwork, commitment, activation, and absence of a negative effect on the learning process than those with the traditional methodology.
We contribute to faultline research by identifying familiarity and cross-subgroup communication as potential moderators in the relationship between diversity faultline and team performance. We employ ...a novel experimental design utilizing escape rooms as a noninterventional social laboratory, enabling us to capture real-time interactions among 40 teams engaged in problem-solving activities. We find that team familiarity has a negative influence and a suppression effect on success. Faultline affects team success negatively when faultline-induced subgroups do not communicate enough with each other. Our work contributes to a better understanding of complex processes and interdependencies that lead to team success or failure.
While educational escape rooms are a novel way to stimulate collaboration and enhance team learning, this approach has only been described a few times in the health professions and interprofessional ...education literature and has tended to be resource intensive. In this report, we describe two educational escape rooms built using freely available technology and implemented with two different cohorts of interprofessional learners in large-scale courses of over 500 students. We sought to demonstrate that a screen-based or virtual escape room approach was feasible, flexible in terms of content and format, and engaging for learners collaborating in small group teams.
Cohort 1 of students from the Interprofessional Quality Improvement and Patient Safety course included 510 students on 88 teams. The activity was completed in person as a tabletop exercise utilizing a shared computer. Most students indicated the exercise was worthwhile and posttest scores on a subset of measures of patient safety learning (APSQ-III) were significantly higher than retrospective pretest scores with moderate effect size. Cohort 2 included 523 students in the Foundations of Interprofessional Collaborative Practice course. This cohort completed the activity asynchronously and virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reactions were generally positive though limited in number.
An interprofessional educational virtual escape room proved to be feasible and well-received across two different learner groups, two sets of content, and two modes for group collaboration: in person versus remote. Piloting this approach required only resources that are freely available online and a sustainable level of faculty engagement, enabling implementation at any program size. Similarly designed educational escape rooms may be a worthwhile approach for interprofessional educators across many instructional contexts hoping to increase student engagement and collaboration.
Background.
The implementation of educational escape rooms has shown great value in learner outcomes. The design of such simulations requires a thoughtful, well-defined process.
Objective.
The ...purpose of this article is to encourage educational escape room designers to use a thoughtful, methodical, iterative process to ensure quality, educational capacity, and a positive learner experience.
Application.
When designing an educational escape room, designers should consider implementing a cyclic design process: design, pilot, evaluate, redesign, re-evaluate, and repeat.
Discussion.
A methodological process for educational escape room design can promote deep learning and positive student perceptions.
The current study examined the effects of digital escape room perceived by 528 elementary school students. Several precursors connected to those learning practices, namely, gameful experience, ...collaboration and motivation were examined. A game-based learning questionnaire applied in the study was validated. Findings indicated that students perceived the gameful experience as affecting their motivation and collaboration. Collaboration had a very low effect on motivation, whereas grade level played a mediating role in linking gameful experience and motivation. Significant differences were found between experiment group learning via digital escape room and control group learning via digital games in all main and sub-constructs, when students’ learning via a digital escape room showed higher levels of attitudes in all learning constructs - gameful experience, collaboration, and motivation. Results indicate students preferred the digital escape room game over other digital game-based learning activities in elementary school as it enhanced higher collaboration and social experience among students, greater internal and external motivation to learn, and stronger gameful experience creating challenge, playfulness, and a sense of accomplishment in learning. The study bridges the gap in the knowledge of using digital educational games in elementary school showing the advantage of escape room game effects on student learning.
•A Game-Based Learning questionnaire applied in the study was validated.•Elementary students perceived the gameful experience as affecting their motivation and collaboration.•Grade level played a mediating role linking gameful experience and motivation.•Significant differences were found between students learning via digital escape rooms and learning via digital games.
This teaching project describes the process of creating, implementing, and appraising the use of escape room concepts within a urosepsis high-fidelity simulation scenario.
Instead of a locked room, ...Breakout EDU locked boxes were incorporated into a clinical simulation. Nursing students applied concepts learned in class and analyzed patient data to obtain clues. These clues helped determine the combination to four locks and progress through the simulation within 60 minutes. After completing the escape room simulation, each group had an opportunity to gather for a team photo, which they posted on social media.
Students reported the escape game contributed to their learning and improved their ability to delegate tasks and work as a team. Preliminary observations reveal that “time” may be a significant factor associated with this teaching strategy.
The concept of an escape room or serious game-based learning was found to be an engaging teaching strategy by faculty and students.
•An escape room teaching strategy incorporated into a urosepsis simulation was positively perceived by faculty.•The concept of “time” emerged as a theme that described this teaching strategy.•Escape room, game-based learning, immersive learning, simulation, urosepsis, teaching strategy.
Escape rooms and breakout are learning strategies that can facilitate motivation of learning through challenges. In these strategies, students must work as a team and use their reasoning, knowledge, ...and skills to solve puzzles and challenges related to the content of the curriculum, allowing them to solve the game in a limited time. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of the implementation of an escape room on classroom flow, academic performance, school motivation, and prosocial and antisocial behaviours with higher students in a Special Education master’s degree course. The quantitative results show a significant improvement in classroom flow, academic performance, and classroom climate, and a better score in prosocial and antisocial behaviours. The qualitative findings provide a better understanding of these results, and support the conclusion that the use of escape rooms is fun and motivating for students, and facilitates their learning achievement.
Background.
Escape rooms have been adapted from a range of educational purposes across disciplines, including healthcare simulation. The use of this technique has become increasingly popular among ...industry and faculty members. We sought to clarify the characteristics of healthcare simulation escape rooms in order to work toward a shared mental model and definition.
Methods.
A scoping review of the literature with an environmental scan of websites and other public information was performed to identify concepts which describe educational and healthcare simulation escape rooms to differentiate between and determine key features and scope of this clinical education tool to provide an interprofessional definition. Twenty-three references were used.
Results.
Healthcare simulation escape rooms share many of the characteristics of those being used for education and may be utilized for teaching a variety of skills. These may be conducted either within a simulation scenario, within the simulation/simulated environment, and/or with associated equipment. It is essential that the development and implementation of these escape rooms follow design standards of best practice for healthcare simulation for optimal learning. Only one definition of simulation escape rooms was found.
Discussion.
While similar to escape rooms utilized in other forms of education, there are principal differences between those escape rooms and ones used in healthcare simulation. Key features include utilization of core healthcare simulation principles, including providing a safe and realistic learning environment.
Conclusion.
Escape rooms may be used to engage learners in a simulation experience. It is important to differentiate between true simulation escape rooms and escape rooms that do not reflect healthcare simulation-based learning experiences. An expanded definition is provided, as reflected by the literature review, to provide a clearer understanding of the term as applied to healthcare simulation and enhance repeatable studies to advance the science of healthcare simulation.
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