Engaging undergrads remotely with an escape room game

Date:
August 12, 2020
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Researchers describe an alternative way to engage students:
a virtual game, modeled on an escape room, in which teams solve
chemistry problems to progress and 'escape.'


FULL STORY ==========================================================================
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, many universities canceled classes
or held them online this spring -- a change likely to continue for many
this fall. As a result, hands-on chemistry labs are no longer accessible
to undergraduate students. In a new study in the Journal of Chemical
Education, researchers describe an alternative way to engage students:
a virtual game, modeled on an escape room, in which teams solve chemistry problems to progress and "escape."

========================================================================== While some lab-related activities, such as calculations and data analysis,
can be done remotely, these can feel like extra work. Faced with the cancellation of their own in-person laboratory classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, Matthew J. Vergne and colleagues looked outside-the-box. They
sought to develop an online game for their students that would mimic
the cooperative learning that normally accompanies a lab experience.

To do so, they designed a virtual escape game with an abandoned
chocolate factory theme. Using a survey-creation app, they set up a
series of "rooms," each containing a problem that required students
to, for example, calculate the weight of theobromine, a component of
chocolate. They tested the escape room game on a class of eight third-
and fourth-year undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry students. The researchers randomly paired the students, who worked together over
a video conferencing app. In a video call afterward, the students
reported collaborating effectively and gave the game good reviews,
say the researchers, who also note that it was not possible to ensure
students didn't use outside resources to solve the problems.

Future versions of the game could potentially incorporate online
simulations or remote access to computer-controlled lab instrumentation
on campus, they say.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Matthew J. Vergne, J. Dominic Smith, Ryan S. Bowen. Escape the
(Remote)
Classroom: An Online Escape Room for Remote Learning. Journal of
Chemical Education, 2020; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00449 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200812144012.htm

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