Enter the serious e-scape room : a cost-effective serious game model for deep and meaningful e-learning

• Main Authors: Mystakidis, Stylianos, Cachafeiro, Enrique, Hatzilygeroudis, Ioannis
• Other Authors: Μυστακίδης, Στυλιανός
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2021
• Subjects: Escape rooms; Virtual reality; Serious games; Deep and meaningful learning; Biology; Science education; Παιγνιώδης μάθηση; Παιχνίδια σοβαρού σκοπού; Βιολογία; Ουσιασικτή μάθηση; Εικονική πραγματικότητα; Παιχνίδια απόδρασης

Escape rooms are a phenomenon that has taken the world by storm in the last decade. Simultaneously Virtual Reality is a promising technology for innovation in education, training and e-learning. Combining these two concepts, this paper outlines a new model for designing serious games in virtual reality environments for high quality, deep and meaningful learning, the Serious E-scape Room. It describes the theoretical grounding, general guidelines and principles of the model. It also presents the case study “Room of Keys”, a serious virtual escape room for biology concepts. To test the assumptions of the model, researchers conducted a mixed research study with 148 students in a US high school. Pre-post test results recorded a 13.8% performance increase and high overall satisfaction. The game has been received enthusiastically by students, it increased their motivation and helped them build a deeper understanding of the learned concepts.