Make Any Revision Activity Into an Escape Classroom

Motivating students has always been a teachers’ number one priority. With information being more and more accessible, students are becoming bored of their subjects. I can attest to that due to the fact that the big ideas in Chemistry haven’t really changed  much since I was in high school. I have always been passionate about learning through play and gamification, because I believe it takes the pressure out of learning and the need to achieve a perfect score. Especially with cooperative games, students are encouraged to share what they know in order for them to succeed, which is why I used Breakout EDU’s digital game platform to create revision games for my students.

WHAT IS BREAKOUT EDU?

Breakout EDU is an immersive game platform that incorporates elements from escape rooms. They offer games for the Breakout EDU Kit and Breakout EDU Digital Games. With the purchase of a Breakout EDU kit, educators can enjoy full Platform Access for 12 months. This Includes a wide range of games that require kits designed by other teachers,  approved by Breakout EDU. Breakout EDU also has the added ability to create your own digital game and educators can set up a free account to view all user-generated material.

WHY ESCAPE ROOMS?

Escape rooms are great because it requires students to have a strong foundation of the subject knowledge in order for them to code-break specific problems.

HOW DO I CREATE MY OWN GAME

Teachers can purchase a range of locks to create their own escape room from any worksheet.

Both Breakout EDU’s physical kit and digital game feature the same type of locks:

• Number locks

• Directional locks

• Coloured locks

• Shapes locks

• Alphabetical locks

Teachers can purchase different types of locks requiring students to open them in different ways, coloured and shape locks appear to be unique to Breakout EDU:

• Luggage tag number locks

• Padlocks

To help you get started on designing your very first escape room, I have created a brainstorm sheet for you to download.

Before you start designing your game, you need to determine whether your game is:

• Sequential: students have to open locks in order

• Non-sequential: students do not need to open locks in order

Then for every type of lock, you need to come up with a question and an answer. Here’s an example of how I went about planning a revision escape room on pH calculations and acid-base titration. Here’s the final game.

In general, I find 5-6 locks sufficient for 40 minutes. I wouldn’t create a game that lasts for 60 minutes as students might not be able to focus for that long if they are unable to solve some of the clues.

One of the downsides of BreakoutEDU is that it’s a hefty investment for teachers due to its pricing. I hope that given the template and links I have provided above, teachers can create their own escape rooms by assembling their own kits.

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