Escape Room-Based Learning in a Neurological Rehabilitation Course: Academic Achievement, Performance, and Student Experience

Escape Room Learning in Neurological Rehabilitation

This study will evaluate the effects of an escape room-based learning activity in an undergraduate neurological rehabilitation course for physiotherapy and rehabilitation students.

Third-year students enrolled in the Neurological Rehabilitation course will participate in a team-based educational escape room consisting of six stations. The stations will require students to apply knowledge and clinical reasoning skills related to neurological conditions, sensory assessment, the ASIA Impairment Scale, walking aids, neurological evaluation methods, and rehabilitation decision-making.

The study will assess academic achievement, escape room performance, student satisfaction, and student experiences. Academic outcomes may be compared with course results from the previous academic year. Escape room performance measures will include completion time, completed stations, solved puzzles, hints received, errors made, and rubric-based performance scores. Students will also complete a satisfaction questionnaire, and a subgroup of volunteer students will participate in individual interviews.

Participation will be voluntary and will not affect course grades. The activity may involve temporary video recording solely for same-day debriefing; recordings will not be used as research data and will be permanently deleted immediately after debriefing. No medical intervention or biological sample collection will be performed.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Neurological Rehabilitation; Escape Room Simulation
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Escape Room-Based Learning

Detailed Description

This single-group quasi-experimental mixed-methods educational study will evaluate the effects of an escape room-based learning activity implemented within the Neurological Rehabilitation course for third-year undergraduate physiotherapy and rehabilitation students at Lokman Hekim University.

The study aims to investigate the effects of escape room-based learning on academic achievement, practical performance, clinical problem-solving, clinical decision-making, teamwork, communication, time management, student satisfaction, and learning experiences. The qualitative component will explore students' perceptions, evaluations, and recommendations regarding the escape room learning experience through semi-structured individual interviews.

Students who voluntarily agree to participate will be assigned to teams of approximately seven students. Each team will participate in a structured educational escape room activity consisting of three phases: prebriefing, gameplay, and debriefing.

During the prebriefing phase, students will receive information about the purpose of the activity, rules, time limit, team roles, safety procedures, and their right to withdraw from the activity at any time. The gameplay phase will consist of six neurological rehabilitation stations. Students will work collaboratively to solve puzzles and complete practical tasks involving identification of neurological conditions, interpretation of clinical findings, use of the ASIA Impairment Scale, sensory assessment, selection and use of walking aids, matching disease-specific assessment methods, and clinical decision-making.

The escape room activity will be conducted in a university laboratory arranged to provide a standardized educational environment for each group. Students will have a limited time to complete the stations. Performance indicators will include completion time, number of completed stations, number of solved puzzles, hints received, errors made, and station-specific rubric scores.

After completing the escape room, each group will participate in a debriefing session. The debriefing will allow students to reflect on their decisions, communication, teamwork, errors, successful strategies, and learning outcomes. Temporary video recordings may be used only during the same-day debriefing session to facilitate reflection and discussion. These recordings will not be used as research data, shared, archived, or retained; they will be permanently deleted immediately after the debriefing session.

Quantitative assessments will include course academic performance, escape room performance measures, and satisfaction with the activity. Academic achievement, including midterm grades, final grades, and overall course grades, may be compared with data from students who completed the same course in the previous academic year, when the same instructor, course content, sequence, and assessment approach were used. Student satisfaction will be evaluated using an eight-item Likert-type questionnaire and two open-ended questions.

For the qualitative component, approximately 8 to 12 volunteer students representing different levels of academic achievement and different teams will participate in semi-structured individual interviews. Interviews will explore overall learning experience, emotional responses during the activity, teamwork, time pressure, perceived contribution to clinical reasoning, challenges, and suggestions for improving the intervention. Interviews will be audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic or content analysis.

Participation in the study will be voluntary and will not affect academic grades or course evaluation. Students who do not wish to participate in the research will not be disadvantaged. All research data will be anonymized, stored securely, and used only for scientific purposes. No medical intervention, physical examination, biological sample collection, or clinical treatment will be involved.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Demet Öztürk, Phd; Phone Number: +905068394288; Email: demett.ozturkk@gmail.com

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Ankara, Turkey (Türkiye), 06370
    • Lokman Hekim University, Ankara, Ankara
    • Contact: Demet Öztürk; Phone Number: 05068394288; Email: demett.ozturkk@gmail.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Enrolled as a third-year undergraduate student in the Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Department at Lokman Hekim University.
• Registered for the Neurological Rehabilitation course during the study period.
• Willing to participate voluntarily and able to provide informed consent.
• Available to attend the scheduled escape room activity.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Declines participation or withdraws consent at any stage of the study.
• Does not attend the scheduled escape room activity.
• Leaves the escape room activity before completion.
• Does not complete the required research assessments.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Escape Room-Based Learning; Participants will receive a structured escape room-based learning intervention within the Neurological Rehabilitation course. Students will work in teams of approximately seven and complete six educational stations involving neurological diagnosis, ASIA Impairment Scale interpretation, sensory assessment, walking aid selection and use, neurological evaluation methods, and clinical rehabilitation decision-making. The activity will include prebriefing, gameplay, and debriefing sessions.

Other: Escape Room-Based Learning; The intervention will be delivered as a structured educational escape room activity within the Neurological Rehabilitation course. Participating students will be assigned to teams of approximately seven students and will complete the activity in a university laboratory arranged as an escape room. The intervention will include three phases: Prebriefing, Gameplay, Debriefing

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Academic Achievement: Midterm Examination Score	Academic achievement will be assessed using the midterm examination score in the Neurological Rehabilitation course. Scores will be reported as points obtained from the course examination. Higher scores indicate greater academic achievement.	8 weeks
Academic Achievement: Final Examination Score	Academic achievement will be assessed using the final examination score in the Neurological Rehabilitation course. Scores will be reported as points obtained from the course examination. Higher scores indicate greater academic achievement.	16 weeks
Academic Achievement: Overall Course Grade	Overall academic achievement will be assessed using the final course grade calculated according to the standard course evaluation system. Higher scores indicate greater overall academic achievement.	16 weeks later
Escape Room Completion Time	Escape room performance will be assessed by recording the total time required for each team to complete the escape room activity. Completion time will be reported in minutes. Shorter completion time indicates better task completion performance.	Day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Student Satisfaction with Escape Room-Based Learning	Student satisfaction will be assessed using an investigator-developed questionnaire containing eight items rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Total satisfaction score will be calculated by summing the item scores. Higher total scores indicate greater satisfaction with the escape room-based learning activity.	Immediately after the escape room activity
Qualitative Student Learning Experience	Semi-structured individual interviews will be conducted with approximately 8-12 volunteer students. Interviews will explore students' overall experience, emotional responses, teamwork, time pressure, perceived effects on clinical reasoning and decision-making, challenges, and recommendations. Audio-recorded interviews will be transcribed and analyzed using thematic or content analysis.	16 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Lokman Hekim University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 20, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 1, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): July 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 17, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Neurological Rehabilitation; Escape Room; Physiotherapy Education; Gamified Learning
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2026-XXK

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No