ERSE: Escape the classroom routine

28 June, 2019

Entrepreneurship and the acquisition of new skills / Game-Based Learning

Boring. Routine. Some students consider going to school as an everyday, unpleasant duty. Their body is in the classroom, but their mind is flying way above the school walls. It is considered that a lot depends on how teachers teach the subject and the model of dry passing of information from teacher to student is very present. Fortunately, it is changing and there are more and more available tools to change this reality. Like escape rooms.

ESCAPE ROOM IN THE CLASSROOM

Escape rooms are defined as a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand and in given a set time. It can have different forms: from actual, physical room with different manipulatives to a game in a box. The story of the game can be set in a variety of fictional locations, such as prison cells, dungeons and space stations, and usually the various puzzles and riddles themselves follow the theme of the room.

Escape rooms have a great potential as an educative tool as they rely mostly on knowledge, reflection, problem solving and teamwork. In addition, they engage the players with the topic of the game. Solving a multitude of different puzzles requires considerable mental effort. Thanks to this, we develop the ability to think logically, quickly associate facts, and anticipate and train manual skills. Such experience gained in the escape room can help to cope with everyday challenges in school and is very valuable in their future work environment.

BUSINESS AS A GIANT ESCAPE ROOM

Learning by doing is the most effective form of assimilating knowledge. Most entrepreneurs would agree that the same would apply when running a company – there is nothing more valuable than experience. “Escape Rooms for Social Entrepreneurs” is an Erasmus+ co-founded project that aims at the education of the next generation of entrepreneurs who are concerned with the sociological ramifications of entrepreneurship. By using Escape Room methodology, students will among other things be able to:

Train their creative thinking – the ability to go beyond the scheme and solve a problem is valuable both in a team and individual work;
Gain a critical look at different “real life business challenges” and test their ideas to solve difficult problems;
Develop their ability to connect quick combination of facts, see cause and effect relationships and a holistic perspective on different business aspects;
Collaborate with others under time pressure, an ability that will be useful in various situations.

Project partners believe that escape room can be successfully treated as an educational game to teach various entrepreneurship skills. Scenarios developed in the project will allow students to experience how it is to face different situations when creating, running and developing a business with a social purpose.