Increasing Student Self-Efficacy in Aphasia Through a Simulated Escape Room

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to explore students' learning outcomes as a result of participating in a simulated aphasia escape room related to (a) the development of aphasia assessment and treatment self-efficacy, (b) students' perceptions of the experience, and (c) overall student performance on escape room tasks. Method: Thirty-six first-year graduate students were guided through simulation procedures, including prelearning, prebrief, simulation, and debriefing for an educational escape room with puzzles related to aphasia knowledge and skills. Assessment measures for student outcomes included pre- and postsimulation self-efficacy surveys, a survey for instructor feedback, and clinical educator judgment of student completion of escape room tasks. Results: The students' self-efficacy ratings, pre- and postsimulation, were assessed using paired-samples t tests. In addition, central tendency and dispersion measures were computed for specific items assessing the students' perception of the simulation. Students demonstrated a statistically significant increase in self-efficacy across all targeted tasks. Student survey responses overall were favorable toward the simulated escape room experience and provided constructive feedback for design improvements. Conclusions: Escape room simulations have the pedagogical ability to expose students to low-stakes clinical tasks and require them to evaluate their own experiences within the clinical simulation. In addition, the gamified atmosphere of the escape room positively contributes to student learning. This work has implications for student teaching and training and the potential for carryover to clinical contexts to improve effective communication, assessment, and treatment skills for patients with aphasia in early career speech-language pathologists.