Engaging Undergraduate Medical Students With Introductory Research Training via an Educational Escape Room: Mixed...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Research Methodology
• Gamification in Learning

Background:

• Medical students often lack motivation for nonclinical research methodology content.
• Educational escape rooms offer a gamified strategy to potentially improve engagement.
• Limited research exists on the large-scale feasibility and impact of escape rooms beyond satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of a large-scale escape room for teaching diagnostic test evaluation.
• To evaluate student engagement and perceived educational value of the escape room intervention.
• To introduce third-year medical students to core principles of diagnostic test evaluation.

Main Methods:

• Developed a low-cost escape room with 6 puzzles aligned with 5 learning objectives on diagnostic study design and analysis.
• Deployed the escape room to an entire class of third-year medical students across 12 sessions.
• Administered pre- and post-intervention questionnaires to assess knowledge and perceptions; analyzed data using descriptive statistics and t-tests.

Main Results:

• High completion rate (92.5%) with significant knowledge score increase (62% to 82%, P<.001) across all objectives.
• Students rated the escape room highly for entertainment (9.1/10) and educational value (8.2/10).
• Post-intervention, 86.9% felt more comfortable with critical appraisal, and 79% found the format appropriate.

Conclusions:

• A large-scale, reusable escape room is feasible and well-received for teaching diagnostic test evaluation principles.
• This gamified approach effectively engages medical students with evidence-based reasoning.
• Escape rooms can serve as a valuable introductory tool for medical research methodology.