Engaging Students Through Escape Games and a Play Environment During Recess

Abstract

The article describes projects that combined experiential learning and gamification with teachers and pupils in junior high school science classes. The pupils planned and designed projects and critiqued the quality of the final products. A field report study model was employed using principles from the world of play in order to better understand the production of a high-quality project. An “Octalysis” model was constructed to identify and analyze the factors that enhance human motivation, and principles for the creation of experiential learning and play. One of the significant characteristics that enabled the production of many varied products was the teachers' ability to find time and physical space in which to create the learning environments. Provision of experiential learning and play environments is demanding for the teacher, but rewarding since they involve pupils and deepen learning quality throughout the process. As a result of this experimentation and reflection, insights were gained concerning the creation of experiential learning and play environments.