Escape Rooms as a Collaborative Problem-Solving Environment

Collaboration tools and problem solving environments (PSEs) have historically evolved independently, despite the fact that most of their developers would agree that transitions between team and individual work are facile and frequent in the real world. The explanation of this paradox has roots in both technology limitations and our lack of understanding of the details of how team and individual work are related and how to encode those relations in software. Progress is being made in both of these areas, and, as a result, there is growing interest in discussion between the collaborative systems and PSE communities, and a growing number of systems that provide collaboration and PSE functionality. We envision this Collaborative Problem-Solving Environments (CPSEs) minitrack as a forum for bringing these communities together and hope that the selected papers will provide the basis for a lively discussion of the issues involved in designing, developing, and deploying CPSEs in science and engineering.The call for this minitrack elicited a very diverse set of papers that clearly mirrors the diverse backgrounds and research directions of the authors. We have tried to preserve that diversity - in the emphasis of collaboration versus single-user features, and in architecture and interface design choices and assumptions - through the review process. Professionals working in a variety of CPSE-related areas and the minitrack chairs reviewed papers. The resulting group of accepted papers speaks to many different interests and issues, yet they have a sense of coherence.We have grouped the ten accepted papers into four overlapping and non-exclusive categories for the purposes of introduction and ordering the program. The first set emphasizes collaboration. The paper by Steves, Ranganathan, and Morse, ?SMAT: Synchronous Multimedia and Annotation Tool?, describes a system that allows collaborative textual annotation of temporal diagnostic data from robotic welding systems.The paper by Kaur, Mann, Matossian, Muralidhar and Parashar, ?Engineering a Distributed Computational Collaboratory,? describes the DIOS framework for real-time collaborative computational steering. Beca's paper, ?Building Collaborative Problem-Solving Environments as Shared Places? describes a framework and XML-based language for creating persistent virtual places that present collaborative interfaces to underlying problem solving tools.The second group of papers focuses on access to computational grid resources. In their ?Designing Grid-based Problem Solving Environments and Portals?, von Laszewski and Foster describe the development of 'Commodity Grid (COG)' toolkits that simplify the integration of grid resources into portals and other CPSE frameworks. Rana and Walker's ?Agent based Service Integration for Distributed Problem Solving Environments? proposes the use of agents for negotiating use of computational, application, and storage resources on a user's behalf.The next set of papers shift the focus from technologies to a more general discussion of CPSE requirements, design principles, and usability in deployed systems. In ?Collaborative Toolkit for Crashworthiness Research?, Simunovic, Bobrek, and Aramayo discuss the performance, data fusion, usability, and collaboration issues they faced in the development of an environment for analyzing vehicle crash test experiments and modeling. Kleban, Stubblefield, Mitchiner, Mitchiner and Arms present another engineering related CPSE in ?Collaborative Evaluation of Early Design Decisions and Product Manufacturability?. Their paper discusses issues related to providing support for the creative, unstructured processes typical of research and, in their case, early product design. Watson's paper, ?Supporting Scientific Analysis within Collaborative Problem Solving Environments?, describes issues related to synchronous collaboration in the visualization and analysis of large data sets and asynchronous review and continuation of analyses in the context of work in computational fluid dynamics.The final two papers continue the discussion about design and requirements, but shift the focus to tomorrow's CPSEs. In ?A Reconfigurable Component-based Problem Solving Environment?, Hawick, James, and Coddington discuss user composition of multi-step processing requests and flexible scheduling of these steps in the context of their DISCWorld system. Towell and Towell cogitate on the origin of a ?sense of place? in virtual environments in ?Virtual Scientific Collaboration and Nonaka's Ba?. They present the results of their survey of students using a textual MOO environment, raising questions about how virtual environments can provide ambiance conducive to different stages of knowledge creation.We believe this minitrack's mixture of infrastructure and interface, of practice and possibility, will be of interest to a broad range of HICSS participants, and will lead to productive discussions, within the minitrack and across the conference, on the emerging topic of CPSEs. We hope you enjoy the papers and the discussions they generate.

ObjectivesEscape rooms are popular team-building activities used in both professional and commercial settings. The concept, where a team must work through multiple tasks to achieve a goal, has been incorporated...

Distributed computational CPSEs (Collaborative Problem-Solving Environments) offer a petri dish where we can keep records and track creative path-finding as never before. CPSEs will enable us to test hypotheses about the dynamics of creative problem-solving that could not be tested until now.This paper argues that Darwin's method, a daring break from the rationalistic straitjacket of his time, offers eight lessons for designers and users of CPSEs. By applying these eight lessons, CPSEs can more effectively support large scale, long-lived multi-Center and multi-project enterprises such as Mars research and mission planning. Web-based knowledge management, interactive visualization and collaborative control capabilities can evolve incrementally, transitioning into CPSEs, which will support scientists and designers to work in new ways.My hypothesis is that CPSEs will support a new revolution that could change the paradigm for scientific method. If this hypothesis is correct, then CPSEs could drive a paradigm change in the community of practice regarding what constitutes acceptable scientific method and design. I suggest that CPSE design itself may also require a new synthesis, a new way of looking at and engineering problems.

BACKGROUND:Clinical evaluation utilizing the escape room game is recognized as a novel method for assessing the team-oriented performance of learners. It is a tool for evaluating teamwork skills in clinical settings, which can boost student motivation and learning. This study aimed to investigate the effect of clinical evaluation through escape rooms and feedback provision through the PEARLS (promoting excellence and reflective learning in simulation) approach on pre-internship nursing students’ satisfaction, learning, and preparedness to practice as interns.MATERIALS AND METHOD:The current research is a quasi-experimental quantitative study conducted with a census sample of 42 sixth-semester undergraduate nursing students in 2022. The escape room method was utilized to evaluate entry preparedness into the clinical field. Reliable and valid researcher-made questionnaires were administered to assess the impact of the intervention on learning, satisfaction, and preparedness. The data were analyzed in SPSS version 26 using descriptive and inferential tests. The significance level was considered to be less than 0.05.RESULTS:Twenty-six males and 16 females constituted the 42 participants (mean age: 23.46 years). The clinical evaluation method of the escape room game was deemed satisfactory or highly satisfactory by 80% of students. From the perspective of 72% of students, escape rooms were definitely or highly effective in shaping their preparedness to enter the clinical field. Comparing the students’ mean learning scores (self-assessment of clinical skills) before and after the test revealed that their post-test scores (55/16 ± 13/33) were significantly higher than their pre-test scores (45/58 ± 16/58) (P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS:It appears that using the escape room evaluation method in conjunction with other student evaluation methods has helped improve students’ interpersonal communication, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and teamwork. The experience of working in a group not only improves these skills and is enjoyable to students but can also enhance their learning. Clinical education is dependent on teamwork. The escape room test can be viewed as a valuable tool for encouraging students to collaborate as a team. Therefore, it is suggested that students in all medical education groups be evaluated clinically using this test.

Escape rooms as formative knowledge assessment: A quasi-experimental study.

The use of immersive and interactive learning environments is gaining traction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, as educators seek to engage students and enhance learning outcomes. We explore the potential of Metaverse for designing immersive and interactive escape rooms that leverage microlearning to teach STEM concepts and skills. We overview Metaverse and its potential as a learning environment, before delving into the use of escape rooms as a strategy for fostering critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving in STEM education. We examine the benefits of incorporating microlearning strategies into escape rooms, including the use of bite-sized content and personalized learning paths. Through a case study of a Metaverse escape rooms implemented in Studio Gometa as a smartphone app and aimed at mathematics education, we highlight the learning outcomes achieved and the challenges faced in the design and implementation process.

Escape rooms are a cutting-edge method of evaluating student learning because they give them a scenario in which they must solve issues and solve puzzles using numerous clues and contextual suggestions. The chapter intends to explore a discussion and reflection on the potential of immersive learning environments for formative assessments (escape room as a quiz) in enhancing students' learning experiences. The theoretical framework, the idea of an escape room, and how it might improve the learning process will be covered at the beginning of the chapter. This study employed a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effects of quiz format (digital quiz vs. digital escape room) on academic performance. Finally, the chapter discusses the potential challenges and limitations of escape room games in education. The chapter concludes by highlighting the insights, practical guidance, and future directions for educators interested in implementing escape room games in their teaching.

DeBola: A Prisoners Dilemma Simulation-Game for NGOs

In recent years, we have seen an emerging trend: the application of recreational escape rooms to educational purposes to engage students in their learning environment. This trend also applies to higher education and to the complex issue of climate change. The objectives of this chapter are to revise literature in this domain and to share a case study for a digital and educational escape room related to climate change: “Escape Global Warming.” This digital escape room integrates the core concepts of climate change and global warming into a game to familiarize participants with this topic and with actions that can be taken to reduce and counteract the effects of climate change while entertaining. After playing, students acknowledge to being more knowledgeable about the issue and more motivated to learn.

In the contemporary landscape of science education, teachers aspire to implement approaches that engage students with diverse teaching methods in diverse learning environments. By reviewing educational literature that deals with chemical escape rooms (ChEsRms), we can find several purposes they serve; however, only a few papers used ChEsRms for assessing student’s knowledge and 21st century skills. The “Escape Room-based Educational Assessment” (EREA) has been built, at the Faculty of Education in our institution, to serve high-school chemistry teachers and their students as an alternative learning and assessment environment. A variety of puzzles are described in this activity paper. The escape room is equipped with cameras that record students’ work while solving the puzzles, and at the same time, they can be observed by their teachers from a control room. Teachers were asked to provide feedback on the activity and specify which puzzles required the implementation of significant chemical knowledge, high order thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, or evaluation), and thinking creatively, for their solution. Based on the teachers’ perception, the skills required while solving the puzzles were mapped. Teachers addressed a variety of aspects: (a) domain specific skills in chemistry such as the implementation and synthesis of chemical knowledge, (b) scientific practices such as question posing and problem solving, and (c) 21st century skills such as collaboration, taking initiative, and creativity.

Gamification has gained popularity in the last years, it is used in primary and secondary schools, as well as in companies and universities (Call, 2021). Along with this growth in popularity the number of available computer tools that facilitate the implementation of quizzes, competitions, simulations, WebQuests etc. has also grown. Play engages students and enhances learning, however not all sorts of games are equally fruitful. As in (Dave Eng, 2019), we make a distinction between gamification and game-based learning (GBL). An example of gamification is a contest where students get points for solving the usual exercises of the subject matter. An example of game-based learning is an escape room where students get involved in studying and solving subject matter problems to get the required hints to continue the game. In this sense, game-based learning is an instance of problem-based learning (PBL) [Lima, 2017]. An interesting reflection on GBL can be found in [Valero, 2018]. The main objective of GBL is to provide an active learning environment, where students need to learn and apply the subject matter in order to participate and eventually solve the game. Compared with frontal lectures, active learning has been shown to provide higher motivation and deeper learning [Call, 2021] [Lopez-Fernandez, 2021]. From a general point of view, we can say that learning takes place in five stages [Bofill, 2007]. Namely: motivation, information retrieval, understanding, application (or practice) and reflection or feed-back. GBL, then, reinforces the autonomous realization of each of these stages. An escape room is a game where players must solve different puzzles and riddles in order to finish the game (in order to escape from the room). Escape rooms have been used extensively in education, since they allow for the organization of subject matter exercises in a pleasant way [Veldamp, 2020].

Introduction: Increasingly adopted in healthcare education for their ability to engage learners, develop teamwork and critical thinking skills, escape rooms are defined as ‘live-action, team-based games where players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal’ [1]. The literature suggests that escape rooms have the potential to engage learners[2,3]. Our simulation team, consisting of academic and simulation technicians, created a virtual escape room using IntuifaceTM software for our immersive learning environment. This interactive touchscreen experience allowed nursing students to practice critical thinking, communication, and teamwork as they navigated a virtual patient’s home, consisting of a linear storyline of puzzles within a 40-minute limit. These were focused on wound assessment and management. Methods: This learning experience involved groups of up to 12 students, structured with rotating participation of 5-6 active learners, and 5-6 active observers who contributed suggestions and insights. Solving the sequential puzzles demanded effective teamwork, clear communication, and the application of knowledge relevant to the scenario’s phases: history taking, information gathering, the correct utilization of wound assessment tools, and the selection of appropriate wound dressings. A simulation technician facilitated the technical operation, while an academic facilitator guided the in-experience discussions and debriefing to enhance learning. Results: Feedback was collected from participants at the end of each session via a QR code. A total of 6 sessions were delivered in 1 day. 65 students took part, with 31 completing the evaluation form (response rate of 47.7%). Overall, student feedback indicated a positive learning experience and participants reported high levels of enjoyment and engagement with the activities, with evidence of perceptions of successful teamwork and communication. Additionally, at least one student noted the development of valuable skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving. The unique and fun nature of the session appears to have contributed to this learning opportunity, see Figure 1. Discussion: The feedback identified a potential area for improvement which was highlighted by “more time and guidance”, suggesting that some students may have felt pressed for time, or required additional support to fully benefit from the activities. This warrants consideration in future session planning to ensure adequate time allocation and appropriate levels of guidance are provided to accommodate all learners. Despite this point for potential enhancement, the feedback suggests the learning experience was innovative and well-received by the participating students, and will be embedded in future nursing curricula. Ethics Statement: As the submitting author, I can confirm that all relevant ethical standards of research and dissemination have been met. Additionally, I can confirm that the necessary ethical approval has been obtained, where applicable.

A Review of: Cho, Y., Coward, C., Lackner, J., Windleharth, T. W., &amp; Lee, J. H. (2023). The use of an escape room as an immersive learning environment for building resilience to misinformation. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 57(2), 524-538. https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006231208027 Objective – To evaluate the efficacy of game-based learning as a tool to teach misinformation recognition strategies, with an additional focus on cognitive bias, emotion, and attitudes related to misinformation. The authors also explore librarians’ responses to the use of the game as library educational programming to identify strengths and areas of concern in the game design process. Design – Mixed-methods user study combining participant survey data with inductive and deductive coding of qualitative data extracted from video recordings and open-ended questions. Setting – Washington State public libraries, primarily city and suburban locations. Subjects – 80 public library patrons and 6 public librarians in gameplay; 50 patrons additionally completed the optional survey. Methods – For this exploratory study, authors designed a misinformation escape room game based on interviews with librarians, college student input, and escape room developer collaboration. The authors recruited and trained public librarians to host the game and facilitate follow-up discussions, then recruited 80 participants via communication channels chosen by the public librarians, including newsletters, websites, and social media. The game was run 17 times across six locations. Game participation and discussions were recorded and transcribed. Following the game, participants were asked to complete a survey that included quantitative and qualitative responses, and librarians participated in a focus group after completing all of their game sessions. Researchers then coded the responses with both predefined and emergent codes. Main Results – Researchers found that participants were exposed to new misinformation techniques during the game, especially deepfake images and videos. Participants stated in the follow-up discussion that the use of misinformation created a sense of vulnerability, and they reflected on their individual responsibility regarding the spread of misinformation, including that once misinformation is shared, it cannot truly be unshared. As a result of the game, many participants highlighted the need for greater caution and critical thinking when engaging with information. Participants appreciated that the game was both fun and cooperative while affirming that it improved their awareness of misinformation techniques. Conclusion – The combination of immersive experience, collaborative play, and the post-game discussion led to better awareness of modern misinformation techniques and a willingness to reflect on the experience of engaging in misinformation. The post-game debrief is particularly important as it allows participants to form connections between the game and real-world misinformation experiences. Further research could pursue more conclusive evidence regarding patterns in misinformation experiences, or a longitudinal study could explore the game’s long-term effects on participants’ attitudes and behaviors.

In the last few years, many Spanish university students have worked very hard in order to reach an acceptable level of English as prescribed by the Common European Framework of reference for Languages (CEFRL, Council of Europe, 2001). Some of them are unsuccessful and demotivated since traditional methodologies of English teaching seem not to fit their necessities. They spend many years learning grammar rules out of context and they do not feel confident enough to speak fluently. In this respect, many researchers in the field agree that innovation in language learning should be paramount in order to create successful learning environments. Thus, educators should accept the challenge to spark innovation within the classroom and be open to explore and experiment with those new teaching and learning spaces (Merchán, 2017). Therefore, the present chapter intends to create authentic and motivating learning experiences among university students introducing a trending game called ‘escape room’ in the English classroom. This innovative methodology of learning integrates the four skills of language in a context (reading, listening, speaking and writing). Moreover, the combination of content and game may help motivate students in their learning process (Figueroa, 2015).

Intuitively we know that un-engaged learners learn less. In this paper we describe the use of escape room activities using a hardware decoder box to create a highly engaging learning environment which fosters teamwork and problem solving skills. We evaluate the escape room based learning methodology using learner and instructor focus groups across several different science and engineering disciplines. Results demonstrate high levels of engagement and attentiveness suggesting this approach has wide scope across many learning disciplines.