A collaborative escape room as gamification strategy to increase learning motivation and develop curricular skills of occupational therapy students

Abstract

Background This study presents an experiment regarding the introduction of gamification strategies in occupational therapy courses. Based on previous studies, the objective is to adapt the idea of recreational escape rooms to educational environments of health sciences like occupational therapy to increase student motivation and promote game-based learning and key skills, such as teamwork. Methods Computer software was created for a collaborative escape room which allows on-line simultaneous play of up to 24–30 students. It was tested three times in an occupational therapy degree program with 75 students and it was based on two different subjects, although it can be adapted to others. The escape room was evaluated using feedback surveys and comparing students’ performances before and after the game. Descriptive exploratory statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 24. Results An appropriate use of educational escape rooms can have significant positive impacts on students’ engagement and learning. Students were found to prefer using gamification tools in their learning. Their degrees of satisfaction exceeded their expectations. Conclusions Educational escape rooms may have a positive impact on students’ motivation and a statistically significant improvement of test scores after playing was found. Comments from the feedback surveys were used to improve successive versions of the software and design of the game. Trial registration T.F.G. n° 2020.038 (Research Ethics Committee of the Principality of Asturias).

Gamification as a Promoting Tool of Motivation for Creating Sustainable Higher Education Institutions

“…The articles determined that motivation increased the learning process and allowed the students to be more perceptive to the lessons [ 84 ]. These results match an escape room’s initial evaluation as a gamification tool indicating their potential for teaching even postgraduate students [ 85 ]. The device was developed before the lockdowns and the experiment in Spain [ 85 ].…”

“…These results match an escape room’s initial evaluation as a gamification tool indicating their potential for teaching even postgraduate students [ 85 ]. The device was developed before the lockdowns and the experiment in Spain [ 85 ].…”

Adaptability and Procedural Content Generation for Educational Escape Rooms

“…The use of educational games as learning tools allows teaching and reinforcement learning. Moreover, it develops non-cognitive skills like problem-solving, teamwork, and communication (Huang et al, 2020), beyond curiosity for students to discover scientific concepts, motivation and engagement comparable to the traditional educational games (Borrego et al, 2017, Nicholson, 2018, Gómez-Urquiza et al, 2019, Huang et al, 2020, Moreno-Fernández et al, 2020, Bilbao-Quintana et al, 2021, Dugnol-Menéndez et al, 2021, Macías-Guillén et al, 2021. Students may develop their learning path playfully and their own adaptive and responsive skills.…”

“…Most authors tend to describe the EER activity as "gamification" (Sanchez et al, 2017, Li et al, 2019, Pérez et al, 2019, Leon et al, 2020, Lopez-Belmonte et al, 2020, Bistulfi, 2021, Dugnol-Menéndez et al, 2021, Santos and Moura, 2021 although others as a "serious game" (Mystakidis et al, 2019, Brown et al, 2019. In both cases, students are meant to be motivated and engaged by the activity, and there has been extensive research on their differences (Mayer, 2016, Macías-Guillén et al, 2021.…”

“…The use of educational games as learning tools allows teaching and reinforcement learning, developing noncognitive skills like troubleshooting, teamwork, and communication (Mateos-Aparicio et al, 2020). This study defines the EERs activities as an effective and innovative learning experience in a high-pressure situation, besides having a positive impact on student engagement and learning (Dugnol-Menéndez et al, 2021). The game's narrative is a crucial component of that initial impact, which motivates the player to play (Manzano-León et al, 2021).…”