Abstract:

Escape rooms have gained popularity as live-action games in which teams of players solve a sequence of puzzles to escape from a room within a limited time. Beyond their appeal as a recreational activity, escape rooms have recently attracted attention as innovative educational tools. They have been employed across different subjects to promote engagement, collaboration, and problem-solving skills, with studies highlighting positive effects on students’ motivation and active participation. The combination of gamification, narrative, and challenge-based learning makes escape rooms particularly suitable for fostering critical thinking and applying knowledge in authentic, interactive contexts.

This paper presents the implementation of an Educational Escape Room at the University of Aveiro Summer Academy and examines participants’ perceptions of the activity. The participants were Year 5 and Year 6 students, aged between 11 and 13, who attended the programme as part of a summer initiative designed to stimulate interest in science and mathematics.

The activity consisted of a game entitled “Escape Room: The Future Is in Danger!”, in which teams were challenged to solve a series of mathematical problems. Each solution contributed to discovering a numerical code used to open a lock containing the key to unlock the final door. This structure encouraged teamwork, logical reasoning, and the application of mathematical knowledge in an engaging, playful context.

Participants’ perceptions were assessed through a questionnaire completed at the end of the activity. The results show that students found the experience enjoyable and stimulating, valued collaboration with peers, and reported using mathematical knowledge in a fun and meaningful way. Most participants also indicated that the activity helped them to better understand the relevance and importance of mathematics in problem-solving situations.

These findings suggest that Educational Escape Rooms represent a promising pedagogical approach for fostering student engagement, active learning, and collaboration, while enhancing the understanding of core mathematical concepts through experiential, game-based learning.

Acknowledgments:
The authors are financially supported by National Funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the CIDTFF R&D Unit, with the reference UID/00194/2025 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/00194/2025).

Keywords:

Educational Escape Room, STEAM education, Mathematical learning, Problem-solving, Active learning, Gamification, Collaborative learning.