Empowering Database Learning Through Remote Educational Escape Rooms

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that remote educational escape rooms are both engaging and effective tools for teaching database concepts in higher education, supported by multiple evaluation methods across different courses.

Contribution

It provides novel evidence on the effectiveness and engagement of remote escape rooms for database education, an area with limited prior research.

Findings

Remote escape rooms are engaging for students.

They effectively improve database knowledge.

Students' perceptions are positive.

Abstract

Learning about databases is indispensable for individuals studying software engineering or computer science or those involved in the IT industry. We analyzed a remote educational escape room for teaching about databases in four different higher education courses in two consecutive academic years. We employed three instruments for evaluation: a pre- and post-test to assess the escape room's effectiveness for student learning, a questionnaire to gather students' perceptions, and a Web platform that unobtrusively records students' interactions and performance. We show novel evidence that educational escape rooms conducted remotely can be engaging as well as effective for teaching about databases.