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AndrejaŠpernjak inNikaŽidan

et al., 2020). Active learning strategies, defined as instructional methods in
which students ‘do and think about what they are doing’ (Bonwell & Eison,
1991), emphasize learning as a process of skill development through engage-
ment. Promoting active learning allows students to explore their own views
and values. Examples of strategies that a teacher can use to promote active
learning are the flipped classroom, audience response technology, collabo-
rative learning, and escape rooms (Plakogiannis et al., 2020).
Active learning is often associated with the use of game elements (Roig
et al., 2023) or with game-based learning, like escape rooms are. The escape
room encourages and sustains active learning and student-centered educa-
tion (Boctor, 2013). The transition from traditional learning to active learning
with the escape room strategy has been found to increase students’ motiva-
tion (Roig et al., 2023), improve their academic performance (López-Pernas,
2019) and improve students’ attitudes towards learning (Boctor, 2013).
Although the concept of active learning has been discussed for decades,
it continues to evolve as digital and experiential methods emerge. The in-
tegration of escape rooms into educational settings exemplifies this evolu-
tion, combining teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving in a structured
yet playful context.
The term ‘active learning’ has never been consistently defined, but most
writings repeat some general characteristics, such as involving students in
activities rather than just listening to content, placing less emphasis on the
direct transfer of information from professor to student, and focusing more
on skill development. It also includes engaging students in higher cogni-
tive processes, such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Bonwell & Eison,
1991). Active learning involves students being holistically, emotionally, and
mentally engaged achieved through various activities and strategies that fa-
cilitate the internalization of concepts and deepen understanding of con-
tent (Rutar Ilc, 2003). Such activities often include research, analysis, and col-
laborative problem-solving, helping students build durable and transferable
knowledge. Recent systematic reviews emphasize that game-based learning
and gamification, when aligned with instructional design principles, signifi-
cantly enhance learners’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation across disciplines
(Triantafyllou et al., 2025; Zakaria & Zakaria, 2025).
Introducing active learning into the learning process changes the theoreti-
calandpracticalpartsofthelesson,asitleadstoco-creationofknowledgein-
volving both the teacher and the students. In this case, the teacher plays the
role of designer and guide of the learning process, while the students’ task is
to build their own knowledge and arrive at new insights independently (Roig

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