Pixel International Conferences

There was no possibility to organise any excursion during the last two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic situation. But what to do with the university subject which aims to teach future teachers how to plan excursions? This qualitative research focuses on using escape room game as a simulation of excursion focusing on geology and history subject. As a suitable place was chosen Vyšehrad (in Prague) which had great importance for early Czech history. The game was conducted as an innovative educational tool for group collaboration. Students were divided into groups of 4 to 5 people. Players answered reflective questions after finishing the game. Their feedback showed students' satisfaction with the activity and increasing motivation for the subject. Some groups faced problems connected with strategy and poor knowledge of the topic. The average time for the online tour was 60 minutes. A pilot study was done with 4 classes of high school students. Some of them see the game as too much complicated but most of them enjoyed it. Literature and these experiences see this type of activity as a new challenge for remote classroom and as a tool for developing students problem-solving skills and critical thinking. The limitation is the time needed for preparing such complex activity. Students claimed that they would like to try an escape room game for strengthening the knowledge after the real excursion.

Keywords: online escape room, gamifying in education, motivational tool.

References:

• Veldkamp, A. et al. Escape Education: A Systematic Review on Escape Rooms in Education. In Educational Research Review, Vol.31, 2020, Pages 18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100364
• Sánchez-Martín, J. et al. Exit for Success. Gamifying Science and Technology for University Students Using Escape-room. A Preliminary Approach, Heliyon, Vol. 6(7), 2020, Pages 11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04340