“We had to be very clear that they weren't going to try to break into any of the cases”: What potential do ‘escape rooms’ offer as a science communication technique?

Wilkinson, Clare; Little, Hannah

Abstract

‘Escape rooms’ are a recent cultural phenomena, whereby a group of ‘players’, often friends or colleagues, are ‘locked’ in a room and must solve a series of clues, puzzles, or mysteries in order to ‘escape’. Escape rooms are increasingly appearing in a range of settings, including science centres and museums, libraries and university programmes, but what role can an escape room play in science communication? In this commentary, we explore the emerging literature on escape rooms as well as thoughts from a small number of escape room creators in the U.S. and U.K.

• Journal Article Type: Commentary
• Acceptance Date: Nov 30, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Feb 1, 2021
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 5, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 5, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Science Communication
• Electronic ISSN: 1824-2049
• Publisher: Sissa Medialab
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: C07
• Pages: 1-7
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/2.20010307
• Keywords: Informal learning, Popularization of science and technology, Public engagement with science and technology
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7068311
• Publisher URL: https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/20/01/JCOM_2001_2021_C01/JCOM_2001_2021_C07