Escape the Mundane

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Originally appears in the Fall 2019 issue.

By Matt Downs

As a science educator, I am keenly aware that dealing with environmental issues is one of the most pressing concerns facing humanity. Experts agree that most of today’s environmental concerns stem from individuals’ daily behavior, including their consumption and waste disposal.¹ It is also widely understood that a population’s participation in the proper disposal of domestic waste is essential to a well-run waste management system.²

Recycling has emerged as one of the most promising approaches to preventing solid waste from being deposited into landfills.³ This is likely due to the fact that recycling is a relatively simple behavior to maintain and is both economically feasible and environmentally beneficial.⁴

Recently, I conducted a study with middle schoolers in my district to determine their recycling knowledge and behaviors. My results indicated that students consider recycling to be important and understand why it is important. However, these same students actually did not know what could and could not be recycled at school. Additionally, results indicated that students would recycle more with clearer guidelines and by better understanding how recycling helps them. Ultimately, this led me to develop a way to improve student participation in correctly and proactively participating in school-wide recycling.

The challenge for me became how to get students to understand the district recycling guidelines and the benefits of recycling, while also keeping them engaged. As a middle school teacher, three words always come to mind when thinking about how to engage middle schoolers: movement, cooperation, and technology. In order for the students to make these strong, meaningful connections, I needed a lesson where students had the freedom to move, construct their own learning by interacting with peers, and use relevant technology, while having a great deal of fun. In order to accomplish this, I created a digital escape room.

What is a digital escape room?
Many people are familiar with traditional escape rooms, as they have been around for almost a decade. For those who are not, escape rooms are fun, cooperative strategy games that challenge players to solve a series of riddles using clues and hints to complete certain objectives, often in several different rooms. Digital escape rooms involve many of the same elements, but because they are created using Google Forms, they have the added benefit of not requiring set-up of special props or purchasing of lockboxes. I have used digital escape rooms in my classroom for about a year to introduce and assess concepts, with students responding positively during those experiences. What follows is an explanation for what makes an effective digital escape room and instructions on how to create one. There is also a link at the end of this article wherein you can explore a portion of a digital escape room that was created to engage students in recycling at school.

Elements of an effective escape room
Before embarking on making a digital escape room, it is important to understand the keys to what makes one successful. All effective digital escape rooms have three essential components and one that is optional. The three essentials are as follows: an engaging story, questions to answer, and puzzles to solve, each of which unlocks a different digital room. Optionally, as an added challenge, you can add a time limit to break out of each individual room or to complete the entire escape.

Story
A done digital escape room story lays the groundwork for what students will be doing. This is the hook to get students excited for what is in store; it works best if you can tie it into what students are learning. For instance, my story is set in the year 2035. Then, the school is littered with recyclables due to decades of students’ not properly disposing of them or simply not disposing of them at all. As a result, students are trapped in a school that is overrun by toxic trash creatures. Students must quickly correct the errors made by past peers before it is too late.

Questions
The questions contain the concepts that you want students to learn. Answers to these questions are used by students to solve the room puzzles. The easiest questions to create and use in a digital escape room are multiple choice questions. I prefer using them, as they have a clear answer and work well later when solving the final puzzle. True/false questions and fill-in-the-blank also work; however, if you do use fill-in-the-blank questions, ensure that each has one definitive answer. How you display your questions is a matter of personal choice. Paper packets can be provided and reused throughout the day, but I prefer to make my questions digital by building them into the Google Form along with the room puzzles.

Puzzles
Here is where the challenge — and thus the fun — of this type of activity begins for students. Puzzles should not be too difficult to start, but can become more challenging as students progress deeper through the activity. A good example for a puzzle is a simple cipher — like the keypad of a phone where the answer maybe “F” and therefore the number for the room puzzle would be “3.”

Such puzzles can be either displayed as the digital room image or on a separate sheet of paper that has been provided. Students apply their answers to the puzzle, which allows them to create either a numerical- or letter-based sequence as the room code. Only the exact sequence will allow students to continue through the escape room.

Time limit (optional)
Adding a time limit can be beneficial for a couple of reasons. For one, it adds a bit of pressure, which can increase both student focus and fun. Secondly, it helps to keep students all on the same pace and will reduce the likelihood of having groups of students waiting around for others to finish.

How to create a digital escape room
Begin by opening up a new Google Form. Give your escape room a name, insert a captivating image, and provide your story to hook in your students. Next, add a new section by clicking the option on the right that looks like two parallel lines. Separating each room into its own section of the Google Form is the key to giving students access to only one puzzle at a time.

Now, it’s time to make your first digitally-locked room. Again, insert an image, but this one will represent the cipher or code key that students will be using to escape that room. If you aim to go fully digital, now is a good time to create several content questions prior to making the one necessary for students to escape. To create a question, select the + symbol and choose the style of question (multiple choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank). Then, fill in the necessary information required so that students can answer it.

When ready, create a final room question, making sure to select “Short paragraph” as the question type. Be sure to make this question “Required,” which will force students to answer it. Then, click on the three dots just off to the right and select “Response validation.”

This will present you with some choices as to how students will “unlock” each puzzle room. Choose “Number” to have students enter a numerical sequence or “Text” if students are to answer using a series of letters or words.

Matt Downs is a 6th-grade science teacher at Percy Julian Middle School in Oak Park, Il. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University at Galveston and his teaching certificate from Northeastern Illinois University. He completed this article as a part of his graduate work with Project Dragonfly at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where he is pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree in the Biological Sciences.

Endnotes:
1. Bendak, S., & Attili, Ab. (2017). Consumers Attitude and Behavior Towards Domestic Waste Recycling in Developing Countries: A Case Study. Advances in Recycling & Waste Management,02(02). doi:10.4172/2475-7675.1000124.
2. Iyer, E. S., & Kashyap, R. K. (2007). Consumer recycling: Role of incentives, information, and social class. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 6, 32e47.
3. Oztekin, C., Teksöz, G., Pamuk, S., Sahin, E., & Kilic, D. S. (2017). Gender perspective on the factors predicting recycling behavior: Implications from the theory of planned behavior. Waste Management,62, 290-302. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2016.12.036.
4. Swami, V., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Snelgar, R., & Furnham, A. (2011). Personality, individual differences, and demographic antecedents of self-reported household waste management behaviours. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 31(1), 21-26. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.08.001.

Feature image: pixabay.com/dschap