Application of knowledge acquired about Tectonic Plates using a Digital Escape Room

The use of Escape Rooms in teaching helps create a more immersive, interactive and engaging learning experience, which promotes the development of a wide range of skills in students. Escape Rooms are based on challenges that require critical thinking and problem-solving skills. By incorporating them in the educational context, students are encouraged to think analytically and creatively, developing effective solutions within a certain time limit. To overcome the challenges of an Escape Room, students must collaborate and share ideas, skills and knowledge. This promotes teamwork, communication and cooperation-essential skills for the school environment and the job market. By facing challenges in groups and under time pressure, students improve their socio-emotional skills, such as emotion management, empathy and resilience. They learn to deal with frustrations and look for alternatives when faced with obstacles.
The playful and dynamic format of Escape Rooms makes learning more engaging and enjoyable. The game creates an environment of healthy competition, awakening students' intrinsic motivation and increasing their willingness to learn. Instead of absorbing content passively, students are encouraged to engage in active and participatory learning, applying concepts and knowledge in practical and challenging scenarios. This can promote a deeper and lasting understanding of the content.
Escape Rooms require students to analyze information, identify clues, make quick decisions, and adjust their strategies as needed. These skills are fundamental to the learning process, as they foster logical reasoning and the ability to adapt.
Escape Rooms offer an innovative form of assessment, allowing teachers to observe student performance in practical activities, providing a formative assessment that takes into account both knowledge and interaction skills, considering decision-making and problem-solving.
In the poster session I will present a digital Escape Room developed for 7th grade students alluding to the theme of tectonic plates. Here is an example.

Escape Room: "The Mystery of Tectonic Plates"

History: The students are part of a team of geologists who have been given an important mission: discover the cause of a devastating earthquake that occurred in a region close near a geological fault. To do this, they need to uncover clues, solve puzzles and apply knowledge acquired in classes to find the key that will unlock the solution to the mystery before time runs out.

Objective: Students must solve a series of riddles about plate tectonics to find the key that will open the safe containing the solution to the cause of the earthquake and understand how plate tectonics have affected the region.

Digital tools that can be used: Google Forms, Genially e Google Earth