Unlocking the Methodology Of Escape Rooms: Considerations For Conducting Applied Escape Rooms in Research

Background. Teams are the foundation of modern organizations. Many organizations are interested in interventions to bolster the effectiveness of their workforce. One viable intervention is an escape room. Escape rooms are engaging, team based activities that require individuals to work together to complete multiple tasks in a limited amount of time. Purpose. The purpose of this article is to provide ten considerations that are relevant to leveraging escape rooms as a means for data collection. Specifically, we offer guidance regarding pilot testing, equipment set-up, participant recruitment, briefing participants, progress monitoring, hints, room maintenance, data maintenance and analysis, and revising the room and study. Conclusion. The considerations provided in this article can assist researchers when attempting to employ an escape room as a mechanism to collect data

Advancing Team Cohesion: Using an Escape Room as a Novel Approach

Objective: An escape room was used to study teamwork and its determinants, which have been found to relate to the quality and safety of patient care delivery. This pilot study aimed to explore the value of an escape room as a mechanism for improving cohesion among interdisciplinary healthcare teams. Methods: This research was conducted at a nonprofit medical center in Southern California. All participants who work on a team were invited to participate. Authors employed an interrupted within-subjects design, with two pre- and post- escape room questionnaires related to two facets of group cohesion: (belonging – (PGC-B) and morale (PGC-M)). Participants rated their perceptions of group cohesion before, after, and one-month after the escape room. The main outcome measures included PGC-B/M. Results: Sixty-two teams participated (n 280 participants) of which 31 teams (50%) successfully “escaped” in the allotted 45 minutes. There was a statistically significant difference in PGC between the three time periods, F(4, 254) 24.10, p \u3c .001; Wilks’ K .725; partial g2 .275. Results indicated significantly higher scores for PGC immediately after the escape room and at the one-month follow-up compared to baseline. Conclusions: This work offers insights into the utility of using an escape room as a team building intervention in interprofessional healthcare teams. Considering the modifiability of escape rooms, they may function as valuable team building mechanisms in healthcare. More work is needed to determine how escape rooms compare to more traditional team building curriculums

The problem of assessing problem solving: can comparative judgement help?

This definitive version of this paper is available at Springerlink: http:dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9607-1School mathematics examination papers are typically dominated by short, structured items that fail to assess sustained reasoning or problem solving. A contributory factor to this situation is the need for student work to be marked reliably by a large number of markers of varied experience and competence. We report a study that tested an alternative approach to assessment, called comparative judgement, which may represent a superior method for assessing open-ended questions that encourage a range of unpredictable responses. An innovative problem solving examination paper was specially designed by examiners, evaluated by mathematics teachers, and administered to 750 secondary school students of varied mathematical achievement. The students’ work was then assessed by mathematics education experts using comparative judgement as well as a specially designed, resourceintensive marking procedure. We report two main findings from the research. First, the examination paper writers, when freed from the traditional constraint of producing a mark scheme, designed questions that were less structured and more problem-based than is typical in current school mathematics examination papers. Second, the comparative judgement approach to assessing the student work proved successful by our measures of inter-rater reliability and validity. These findings open new avenues for how school mathematics, and indeed other areas of the curriculum, might be assessed in the future

Unlocking the Methodology Of Escape Rooms: Considerations For Conducting Applied Escape Rooms in Research

Background. Teams are the foundation of modern organizations. Many organizations are interested in interventions to bolster the effectiveness of their workforce. One viable intervention is an escape room. Escape rooms are engaging, team based activities that require individuals to work together to complete multiple tasks in a limited amount of time. Purpose. The purpose of this article is to provide ten considerations that are relevant to leveraging escape rooms as a means for data collection. Specifically, we offer guidance regarding pilot testing, equipment set-up, participant recruitment, briefing participants, progress monitoring, hints, room maintenance, data maintenance and analysis, and revising the room and study. Conclusion. The considerations provided in this article can assist researchers when attempting to employ an escape room as a mechanism to collect data

Unlocking the Methodology Of Escape Rooms: Considerations For Conducting Applied Escape Rooms in Research

Background. Teams are the foundation of modern organizations. Many organizations are interested in interventions to bolster the effectiveness of their workforce. One viable intervention is an escape room. Escape rooms are engaging, team based activities that require individuals to work together to complete multiple tasks in a limited amount of time. Purpose. The purpose of this article is to provide ten considerations that are relevant to leveraging escape rooms as a means for data collection. Specifically, we offer guidance regarding pilot testing, equipment set-up, participant recruitment, briefing participants, progress monitoring, hints, room maintenance, data maintenance and analysis, and revising the room and study. Conclusion. The considerations provided in this article can assist researchers when attempting to employ an escape room as a mechanism to collect data

Using Escape Rooms for Conducting Team Research: Understanding Development, Considerations, and Challenges

Background. Modern organizations are increasingly reliant on teams, and many organizations are subsequently concerned with the development of interventions that can improve the performance of teams. Escape rooms are beginning to receive attention as a potential avenue to facilitate team-based research. Escape rooms are team-based recreational activities that require a team of individuals to work together and think critically in order to solve a series of puzzles or challenges to escape a room. Purpose. This article provides considerations for researchers and organizations alike concerning the development of an escape room for team-based research, its methodological applications, and challenges associated with the use of escape rooms in research. Developmental considerations include issues such as an escape room’s location and size, financial considerations, theme development, other characteristics of the escape room, the development of puzzles and challenges, prototyping efforts, and the development of hints. Conclusion. Research considerations include the use of observational and survey methods in data collection, measurement of team processes and team performance, and how elements of an escape room influence teamwork and problem solving. Various challenges associated with the use of escape rooms in team-based research include considerations for dealing with cheating behavior, providing hints to participants, and resetting the room between experimental trials

Using Escape Rooms for Conducting Team Research: Understanding Development, Considerations, and Challenges

Background. Modern organizations are increasingly reliant on teams, and many organizations are subsequently concerned with the development of interventions that can improve the performance of teams. Escape rooms are beginning to receive attention as a potential avenue to facilitate team-based research. Escape rooms are team-based recreational activities that require a team of individuals to work together and think critically in order to solve a series of puzzles or challenges to escape a room. Purpose. This article provides considerations for researchers and organizations alike concerning the development of an escape room for team-based research, its methodological applications, and challenges associated with the use of escape rooms in research. Developmental considerations include issues such as an escape room’s location and size, financial considerations, theme development, other characteristics of the escape room, the development of puzzles and challenges, prototyping efforts, and the development of hints. Conclusion. Research considerations include the use of observational and survey methods in data collection, measurement of team processes and team performance, and how elements of an escape room influence teamwork and problem solving. Various challenges associated with the use of escape rooms in team-based research include considerations for dealing with cheating behavior, providing hints to participants, and resetting the room between experimental trials

Advancing Team Cohesion: Using an Escape Room as a Novel Approach

Objective: An escape room was used to study teamwork and its determinants, which have been found to relate to the quality and safety of patient care delivery. This pilot study aimed to explore the value of an escape room as a mechanism for improving cohesion among interdisciplinary healthcare teams. Methods: This research was conducted at a nonprofit medical center in Southern California. All participants who work on a team were invited to participate. Authors employed an interrupted within-subjects design, with two pre- and post- escape room questionnaires related to two facets of group cohesion: (belonging – (PGC-B) and morale (PGC-M)). Participants rated their perceptions of group cohesion before, after, and one-month after the escape room. The main outcome measures included PGC-B/M. Results: Sixty-two teams participated (n 280 participants) of which 31 teams (50%) successfully “escaped” in the allotted 45 minutes. There was a statistically significant difference in PGC between the three time periods, F(4, 254) 24.10, p \u3c .001; Wilks’ K .725; partial g2 .275. Results indicated significantly higher scores for PGC immediately after the escape room and at the one-month follow-up compared to baseline. Conclusions: This work offers insights into the utility of using an escape room as a team building intervention in interprofessional healthcare teams. Considering the modifiability of escape rooms, they may function as valuable team building mechanisms in healthcare. More work is needed to determine how escape rooms compare to more traditional team building curriculums