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Escape Rooms as an Active Learning Didactic Strategy

lection, in accordance with ethical research standards for studies involving
minors. All responses were anonymous.
The collected data was processed with a descriptive analysis using the sta-
tistical program IBM SPSS 29.0. Frequencies and proportions of responses
were considered in the analysis. The reliability of the questionnaires was
checked using the Cronbach α value, which is 0.71 for this questionnaire.
Item six (‘Did you manage to unlock all the locks?’) was excluded from the
reliability analysis because it measured task success rather than perception,
which slightly increased internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.71). The locks
were unlocked by 28 out of 38 students who completed the escape room in
physical form and by 27 out of 39 students who completed the escape room
in virtual form.

Instruments
Themainresearchinstrumentwasa20-itemquestionnairedevelopedforthis
study. The questionnaire comprised three thematic sections:

1. Student motivation and engagement during the activity (e.g., ‘How
motivated did you feel while solving the escape room?’).
2. Self-assessed knowledge acquisition and perceived difficulty.
3. Students’ attitudes towards group work and their overall evaluation of
the activity.

Responses were measured on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree
to 5 = strongly agree). Content validity was ensured through expert review
by two biology teachers and one university researcher specializing in science
education. A pilot test with 15 students confirmed clarity and an appropriate
completion time (10 minutes).
Internal reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s α, yielding a coefficient
of 0.71, which indicates acceptable internal consistency for exploratory re-
search (Hair et al., 2019).

Procedure and Data Collection
Each session lasted 60 minutes and followed the same structure in all partic-
ipating schools. After a brief introduction and safety instructions, students
were divided into small groups of 4 members. Each group participated in
either the physical or virtual version of the escape room. The physical es-
cape room involved tangible puzzles, hidden objects, and locks, while the
virtual escape room was implemented through a digital platform that sim-

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