Promoting Intraprofessional Collaboration and Critical Thinking With Escape Rooms: An Example of a Clinical Skills...

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Experiential Learning
• Gamification in Education

Background:

• Gamification enhances motivation and learning, but evidence on innovative methods like educational escape rooms is limited.
• Occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students require effective clinical skills training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the effectiveness of educational escape rooms as an innovative teaching approach for OT and OTA students.
• To assess the impact of escape rooms on students' intraprofessional collaboration, active learning, critical thinking, and knowledge.

Main Methods:

• A preexperimental, one-group study conducted in a university simulation laboratory.
• Seventy-six OT and 38 OTA students participated in teams, completing an escape room designed around clinical skills course topics.
• Pre- and post-assessments evaluated readiness for interprofessional learning, active learning, critical thinking, and knowledge.

Main Results:

• Students demonstrated increased readiness for teamwork, active learning, and critical thinking skills post-escape room.
• Knowledge levels improved with a moderate effect size, indicating positive learning gains.
• The educational escape room experience was associated with enhanced student learning outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Educational escape rooms are a viable and effective teaching modality in health professions education.
• This study validates the use of escape rooms to promote learning outcomes and intraprofessional teamwork among OT and OTA students.
• Further research with rigorous designs is recommended to explore the full potential of escape rooms in OT education.