Design and Implementation of an Escape Room About the Discovery of the Periodic Table

Introduction

General chemical contents included in the curriculum of secondary, high school and first university science courses are of vital importance to understand the different phenomena that we observe in nature. However, not all the contents of these subjects contain knowledge that stimulates the interest of students. The adaptation of the less enjoyable content, without reducing its importance, might be an interesting option to attract the attention of the students. In this context, any change or modification of the traditional master class methodology, which favors a more enjoyable and attractive learning, must be considered for its correct implementation. Specifically, game-based learning techniques are presented as a promising methodology since they introduce a playful factor that motivates the participation, interest, and dedication of students towards the subject (Fuster-Guilló 2019; Lieberman, 1977; Vygotsky, 1978).

In recent years, one of the game-based learning techniques that is receiving more attention both inside and outside the teaching environment, is the Escape Room. Escape rooms are live-action team-based games where players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms to achieve a specific goal (usually escaping from the room) in a limited amount of time (Nicholson, 2015). These activities have inspired teachers and educational researchers in an attempt to increase student motivation and engagement (Corkill, 2009; Warmelink et al., 2017), by creating escape room-like activities where students must solve puzzles related to the topic that is being studied in the class, for example pharmacology (Hermanns et al., 2017) or computer science (Borrego et al., 2017). Educational Escape Rooms belong to a much larger group of activities called game-based learning activities, that also include online games and simulations (de Freitas, 2006) and they aim to include the learning process as an outcome of a game cycle (Garris et al., 2002). According to Pivec et al. (2003), the main characteristic of an educational game is the inclusion of didactic content inside the game. The game must also be motivating, so the player is encouraged to repeat an interactive game cycle (Thornton and Cleveland, 1990). Thus, the player dives in the game, feels that he/she is in control, and considers that the activity is challenging (Baranauskas et al., 2001), so he/she does not lose interest. Sometimes game-based learning and gamification are confused since both techniques are related to the use of games. However, both techniques are different and do not mean the same. Gamification techniques use game elements in a non-game context (Deterding et al., 2011) whereas in game-based learning techniques the game itself is the training, as mentioned above.

In 2019, the United Nations Organization proclaimed the International Year of the Periodic Table (Resolución Naciones Unidas, 2017), to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first publication of the periodic system by Dimitri Mendeleev. Since the history of the Periodic Table is not usually included in detail within a General Chemistry course, due to lack of time or lack of interest on the part of the students, it has been chosen as the central theme of our escape game. This game is intended for students to learn about the different steps that led to the first version of the modern Periodic Table of elements.

This work describes the design and implementation of an Escape Room, celebrating the International Year of the Periodic Table. The main goal is that the participants achieve both basic and specific competences through the game, like teamwork and creativity as well as chemistry concepts. The design of the Escape Room is not a trivial matter, for it is here where we must implement all the theoretical aspects of a game-based activity.