In this first of two blogs, Fatima Yunus and Eric Limoh (LTA Learning & Teaching Interns) share their thoughts on the Escape Room Showcase hosted by the LTA.

 

Educational Escape Rooms: A Captivating Path to Engaged Learning (Fatima Yunus)

I had the honour of witnessing Liz Cable’s exciting opening keynote address on the effectiveness of educational escape rooms at this year’s Escape Room Showcase Event. Liz has spent more than ten years creating and executing these innovative educational programs, and her observations were incredibly eye-opening.

So, what exactly is an educational escape room? As Liz explained, it is an immersive game-based activity where students work together to solve a series of puzzles and challenges, often tied to an overarching narrative or mystery. The goal is to “escape” the room or scenario by applying critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills.

Liz shared examples from her own games like “Homicidium” which is an immersive game to help students settle into the university. The game took students around the university using their own mobile phones and apps like augmented reality to find books in the library, log into Modules, visit the student union, and work with their new friends. Another example she provided was “Death by the Book,” in this escape room an accounting class had to crack codes and comb through financial statements to unravel a corporate crime before their revision exam. The sheer creativity and engagement these experiences generated were incredible.

But educational escape rooms are not just fun and games. Liz highlighted their profound pedagogical benefits:

  1. Active learning: Rather than passively absorbing information, students are completely immersed in the learning process through kinaesthetic problem-solving.
  2. Authentic skill application: The challenges allow students to directly apply course concepts in realistic, contextualized scenarios that mirror the demands of the professional world.
  3. Collaborative learning: Teammates must pool their diverse knowledge and perspectives, developing vital teamwork and communication abilities.
  4. Increased motivation: The narrative hooks, time pressure, and spirit of friendly competition create a potent motivational dynamic that captivates learners.

Whether used for learning activities, formative assessments, or stimulating post-experience reflections, educational escape rooms provide an unparalleled opportunity to energize students and create lasting learning impacts.

 

Is Educational Escape Room a Step in The Right Direction? (Eric Limoh)

The concept of an educational escape room was fascinating to me and seeing the extent to which it can be implemented leaves no doubt of the immense benefit its integration in contemporary learning curriculum could bring. The desire to be heard and also not to fail is a paradox for any contemporary student. Integrating gamification in learning provides a necessary platform for students to express themselves and fail without the consciousness of failing. In their focus on winning, students learn from their failures without feeling like they’ve failed.

Educational escape rooms can enhance student engagement and provide an introspective learning experience. As someone who has personally experienced playing in an escape room, I found that it hard to remain passive or inactive in a meticulously crafted escape room. The adaptability in the design of educational escape rooms offers students the essential freedom to learn through iterative processes, hence facilitating significant learning outcomes. Continuously exploring the use of educational escape rooms in teaching and learning might be a practical approach to enhance student engagement and advance educational development.

 

Image credit: Photo by Rayson Tan on Unsplash