Escaping From a Traditional Learning Approach

By Mrs. Allison DeFrancesco Castro ‘02 Assistant Head of School

If you were told that you would be trapped in a room with thirteen of your colleagues or classmates and have one hour to solve puzzles and escape as a team, what would be your first move? This is the challenge I presented to a group of students and faculty and staff this past school year, and they were some of the most memorable, fun, and engaging learning opportunities. Escape rooms, also known as break-out rooms, have become a common interactive experience that audiences enjoy with a group of friends or even complete strangers. In an escape room, the group begins in an enclosed space, usually in an office building, warehouse, bus, or classroom. Participants are prohibited access to their phones and they are usually given a maximum time limit to escape. The group must communicate and work together to solve riddles, find secret messages, keys, or codes to unlock elements in the room. In recent

years, escape rooms have sprung up in most large cities, and they attract people of all ages. We at Providence could not help but wonder how this cultural phenomenon could be applied and woven into a classroom experience. In the past few years, we have used this escape room approach to design our own unique experiences for students, faculty, and staff. In 2015, we designed one for all of our faculty and staff, and it was a zombie-themed experience where the adults had to survive by escaping in time. Then, at the beginning of this past school year, when welcoming ten new faculty and staff members, we took the group to an escape room. This time, it was a casino-themed room, and the individual teachers and staff instantly became a team as they worked together to escape before 90 minutes elapsed. This past semester, I was honored to teach our school’s Public Speaking class. Made up of fourteen students, including sophomores, juniors, and seniors, the class emphasized all aspects of communication, and I used the break-out room approach for a lesson to allow me to better get to know my students and for them to better get to know one another. With limited information, the students did not waste any time getting started as they explored the room for clues. Even the most outgoing and independent students quickly realized that the success of the exercise would depend on their ability to involve their peers. The best discovery during the activity came after students had been carrying around a blacklight for 20 minutes and shining it in all places around the room looking for the next clue. They struggled with the clue that said, “Ask Mrs. Castro for a hand for the next clue.” Finally, it was senior, Christian Lipton ‘19, who guided the group to shine the light on my hands. As soon as the light illuminated a secret code written on my hand, the group shouted with excitement!

This experience has proven to be fun and engaging for students, faculty, and staff. Furthermore, from a pedagogical standpoint, the exercise is an innovative opportunity to engage all participants. Although one of the greatest benefits of an escape room is the entertainment, the following are some of the specific educational benefits we have found:

Focused on Problem-Solving: An escape room can be incorporated into any discipline or content area. Although you can pay for a premade experience, we have found ways to create our own experiences on campus. It has enabled us to introduce new lessons, review a unit of content, and even consider putting it in place of a standard final exam! The participants are invited to learn something new through a motivating scenario. Participants have an opportunity to learn content and skills by solving problems while fostering a memorable experience. Highlighted Students’ Strengths: This exercise puts the students at the center of the learning experience. Although the teacher is in the room, he or she simply participates as a facilitator and observer. During the exercise, the teacher can jot down notes about the strengths and dynamics they are witnessing from the students and the group as a whole. The students themselves make decisions about how they will participate and engage with others. Knowing students’ strengths allows us to better know our students as individuals in the learning process. Encouraged Team-Building: Although each participant enters the escape room as an individual, the exercise involves the whole group. Escaping requires communication and teamwork. Our students quickly learn a lot about themselves and how they engage in a team scenario. Following the experience, we responded to questions: What did we notice? Where did we struggle as a group? Who can we credit with an important discovery or accomplishment in the room? At the conclusion of each experience, the open debrief with the group has been especially valuable. Incorporated Movement and Active Engagement: One of the greatest benefits of the escape room approach is that students are not seated in their desks. It really becomes a full body experience as participants are motivated to move throughout the room and work with all different people. The students get to decide how they will participate. I have never seen a student sit quietly and check out completely. The setting for learning is so unique and unexpected that it immediately motivates everyone to get involved.

In the end, although you hope you escape, it really is not what the participants talk about most. Sure, you want to win, but the true benefit of the experience is the experience itself. These experiences have proven to be a beneficial and engaging way to actively engage our students in the content and it is yet another way that we are pioneering the way with unique learning experiences.