Educational escape rooms as collaborative learning environments
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
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Date
2020
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Master's Programme in New Media
Language
en
Pages
63
Series
Abstract
Escape rooms have been gaining popularity over the years. They provide activities suitable for people of any age, gender and background. Following their increase in popularity, escape rooms have also been used for the purpose of corporate training, for example in critical thinking, communication, time management and delegation. When the value of escape rooms became clear, educators also took an interest in the field to teach specific subjects or skills. However, due to it being a young field of study, there is not much research yet. The existing papers focus on one side of the medium, either the game design or pedagogical aspect. A question follows naturally after reading them: There are many theories and studies, but how do they interconnect? How do these collaborative and interactive environments support teaching and learning? What are the elements to focus on when designing an educational escape? This paper will answer these exact questions, bringing diverse studies and theories to one place. The research and literature show the various elements like narrative, puzzle, teamwork and debriefing are an integral part of collaborative learning and can be scripted with an educational purpose. Specific attention should be placed into the teamwork and debriefing aspects. The research is then retrospectively applied to Aalto Junior Escape Room, a Summer 2019 project I have participated in. While further research is required to confirm the observations made in this paper, students do appreciate the break from the monotonous classrooms and textbooks and favor a more practical and interactive approach to learning.Description
Supervisor
Leinonen, TeemuThesis advisor
Leinonen, TeemuKeywords
escape room, education, game design, collaborative, learning, teaching