Extension of escape rooms with roleplays: promoting a sense of belonging and fostering communication skills among first-year university students

Authors

  • Sonja Hahn DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Rostocker Straße 6, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5461-6383
  • Marie-Luise Springmann Systemic Institute for Education and Training, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
  • Tamara Denninger https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9399-7350
  • Mechthild Kiegelmann Institute for Psychology, University of Education Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7578-2786

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi34.1292

Keywords:

escape rooms, communication skills, sense of belonging, gamification, roleplay

Abstract

When designing learning scenarios for first-semester university students, instructional developers should not only impart knowledge and skills but also support transition to university, for example by providing opportunities to build a sense of belonging. In our case study, we illustrate how we addressed these goals by creating a motivating student-centred learning scenario incorporating gamification elements. We developed this scenario during the Covid-19 pandemic based on an existing escape room. A collaboration script guides small groups of students towards reciprocal, positive, and goal-oriented interactions. During the scenario, students get in touch with each other and pay attention to specific requirements for counselling communication. In our paper, we introduce a sophisticated sequence of gaming and counselling phases including elaborate roleplays. Results from a mixed-methods evaluation are not only used to improve the scenario but also show that students build positive relationships and perceive the scenario positively. These points are especially important due to the large proportion of non-traditional students in our sample. We finally report how we adapted the scenario to a variety of learning contexts including hybrid and face-to-face settings. For instructional developers, the current approach highlights the role of instructional scripts in computer-supported collaborative learning environments, resulting in a highly flexible learning scenario. By shifting the focus from communication skills to other higher-order skills (for example, problem-solving abilities), instructors may adapt the script to a wide range of instructional goals.

Author Biographies

Sonja Hahn, DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Rostocker Straße 6, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Sonja Hahn is a researcher at the DIPF Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education. With a background in quantitative research methods, she investigates how research methods can be transferred to and implemented in digitally enriched learning scenarios, for example, by means of evaluation, within formative assessments, or by developing task-tailored AI models. Her aim is to improve these scenarios and to advance research methods simultaneously. Taking an integrative point of view, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, and supporting instructors to use the obtained data and results has gained her attention recently.

Marie-Luise Springmann, Systemic Institute for Education and Training, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

Marie-Luise Springmann is a clinical psychologist and was a PhD candidate and lecturer at the Karlsruhe University of Education for several years. She completed her doctoral thesis on the subject of eating disorders and gender and is currently training as a psychological psychotherapist at the Systemic Institute of the Freiburg University Medical Center. Her research focuses on the intersection of Psychology and Social Theory. She is particularly interested in the topics of gender and sexual diversity, body and psyche, intersectionality, and the links between theorising and research methodology.

Tamara Denninger

Tamara Denninger is an early childhood educator with a bachelor's degree in Childhood Education from the Karlsruhe University of Education in Germany. As a research assistant, she worked on several projects with Mechthild Kiegelmann. In the current study, she was involved in the improvement, development and implementation of the escape room in the subsequent cohorts. Her research interests include language development and language support for children with German as a second language.

Mechthild Kiegelmann, Institute for Psychology, University of Education Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany

Mechthild Kiegelmann is a full professor in the department of Psychology at the Karlsruhe University of Education in Germany. Her research interests include qualitative methodology in Psychology, live span development focusing on coping with social inequality, and trauma research. As a researcher in developmental and educational psychology, she implemented cooperative learning scenarios in her university teaching when all courses switched to distance teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic. She is committed to support mixed methods empirical research in the discipline of Psychology.

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Published

03-03-2025

How to Cite

Hahn, S., Springmann, M.-L., Denninger, T., & Kiegelmann, M. (2025). Extension of escape rooms with roleplays: promoting a sense of belonging and fostering communication skills among first-year university students. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (34). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi34.1292

Issue

No. 34 (2025)

Section

Case Studies

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