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Published on: March 29, 2019
Game-Based Medical Education: Learning Effects of an Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Escape Room
Lisa Stange1, Torben P P Hornung1,2, Tom Johann Schuster1
1Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital, Thibautstrasse 4, Heidelberg, 69115 Germany.
Background:
Innovative and interactive didactic methods in medical education have gained traction in recent years. This quasi-experimental study assessed the effectiveness of a Game-based interprofessional learning approach at a German medical school for knowledge gain and student satisfaction.
Methods:
An interdisciplinary escape room integrating learning goals from psychiatry, forensic medicine and infectious diseases was developed. Pre-post intervention questionnaires were used to determine differences in knowledge gain and evaluation between experimental and control groups. Knowledge retention was assessed one-month later using the same post-intervention questionnaire. Difference in pre- and post-test scores was determined as knowledge gain. Repeated Measures ANCOVA compared the variances of experimental and control group for pre- and post-test scores. Knowledge retention was analyzed correcting for pre-test scores, response delay and semester. Student satisfaction was measured with an evaluation survey consisting of 20 evaluation and three open-ended questions.
Results:
Sixty-two students (56.5% female, 43.5% male) participated in eight teaching interventions. ANCOVA showed a significant difference in knowledge retention between control and experimental groups (F(1,32) = 12.59, p = 0.001). No significant differences were observed in short-term knowledge gain (t(43.18)=-0.66, p = 0.511). Students evaluated the escape room as enjoyable and useful learning method to improve communication skills and team collaboration. Interprofessional aspects were perceived particularly positively.
Conclusions:
Escape room-based learning showed higher knowledge retention than control group. Escape room was perceived as more engaging and interprofessional than traditional teaching methods. Further research is needed with randomized controlled settings for deducing possible causal relationships.
Supplementary Information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-026-02661-3.
