The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Escape room games find their way into the classroom
It’s become an entertainment phenomenon: Across the country, adventurous folks are paying to be locked into a room and challenged to uncover clues, decipher their meanings and get out.
At one Fayette County school, teachers are tapping into that current “escape room” craze to engage students in a variety of subjects. It kicked off in the spring when Robin Huggins, a science teacher at Starr’s Mill High in Fayetteville, received a $273 grant from the county’s Education Foundation.
“Escape rooms are big, and the kids love them,” said Huggins. “One of our teachers learned about an escape room based on lab safety that had been designed by teachers, and from there we found there were plans on a number of different topics. Since the Foundation is always asking people to apply for funds every year, we asked for enough to buy about 15 escape room plans.”
The majority of the games the school uses are based around the sciences, said Huggins. But each one works in a slightly different way.
“Some are all online, and students plug information in electronically,” she said. “Some are more physical and have students going from room to room to solve problems. But it’s all very much like when you go to an escape room, and it’s a good way to reinforce ideas and make science come alive. It’s not just chemistry practice problems on a piece of paper or another lab report.”
A typical chemistry escape room lasts one class period. Students begin in one class- room where they solve some chemistry problems then use the answers to find clues in a darkened lab where hints may be hidden under chairs, in cabinets in beakers or on the floor. Students who track the correct clues are rewarded by being let out of the room and picking up a candy treat.
“They have to work the problems to find the clue to open the box and get the next clue,” said Huggins. “So they’re doing chemistry, but it also requires logic. It also draws on the strengths of all the students; the kids who aren’t as good at problem solving can be great at logic.”
Junior Breanna Kozusko participated in a chemistry escape room in the spring and found that it challenged more than her science skills.
“We really had to push ourselves to figure it out,” said the Peachtree City resident. “Because the goal was to escape, it made students try harder to solve the problems. And because we were grouped into teams, it built team skills, too. Some of the problems were hard; even the smartest people wouldn’t have been able to do them on their own, so you had to depend on your classmates.”
Kozusko had also done an escape room adventure with her friends, and she liked that the same sort of fun was being used in the classroom. “I like that you really have to think outside the box,” she said. “And I like learning hands-on, so it was better than having to do work sheets.”
The value of the escape room’s entertainment value hasn’t been lost on teachers.
“School can be boring,” admitted Huggins. “This is a fun way to engage kids. Every once in a while, you have to do something that’s just fun.”.