A Virtual Escape Room versus Lecture on Infectious Disease Content: Effect on Resident Knowledge and Motivation

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Infectious Diseases
• Virtual Learning

Background:

• Medical educators seek engaging methods for virtual and blended learning, especially post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
• Educational escape rooms are known to boost motivation, communication, and teamwork.
• The impact of escape rooms on learner knowledge compared to lectures is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of virtual escape rooms versus lectures in improving medical residents' knowledge of infectious diseases.
• To assess resident motivation levels for both virtual escape room and lecture formats.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental study involving 30 emergency medicine residents across two programs.
• Participants completed both a virtual escape room and a lecture on infectious disease content.
• Pre- and post-quizzes assessed knowledge, and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) measured motivation.

Main Results:

• Residents showed significant knowledge improvement after the virtual escape room (UCI: 77.8% to 88.9%; Prisma: 73.81% to 89.68%).
• Lectures did not yield statistically significant knowledge improvements (UCI: 73.8% to 78.6%; Prisma: 85.71% to 91.27%).
• Motivation levels were comparable between formats at UCI, while Prisma residents preferred the escape room.

Conclusions:

• Virtual escape rooms enhance infectious disease knowledge in emergency medicine residents more effectively than lectures.
• Both formats were well-received regarding motivation, with a noted preference for escape rooms in one setting.