Escaping Online: Teacher Student Engagement in a Digital Escape Game

This study examines how teacher students experienced engagement while playing Radioaktiv, a web-based digital escape game on radioactivity, within a fully online course at a Norwegian university. Its central aim is to move beyond the observable signs of engagement that dominate existing escape-game research and to characterise what students mean when they say they were engaged. Six pairs of students played the game collaboratively over Zoom within a 45-minute limit and then took part in guided group interviews, which were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

The analysis identifies four aspects of engagement. Time pressure proved double-edged: the visible countdown energised many students, but for some it generated stress that reduced attention to the subject content, and one group stalled on the first puzzle while questioning the value of the videos. Students also found satisfaction in completing individual tasks for their own sake, reflecting a checklist-like drive to advance regardless of the wider game. Although they valued having a red thread of theme and content, they were largely not engaged by the narrative of rescuing Dr. Doppler, often forgetting the character or the maps that supported the story. Finally, students consistently positioned themselves as teachers, evaluating the game through its potential for their own pupils, which strongly shaped their emotional and cognitive investment.

The authors draw implications for selecting and designing online escape games, suggesting that timers and narrative weight must be balanced against learning goals and that such games may suit soft-skill training or serve as introductory activities for a new theme. The authors acknowledge that the study is limited to a single class of teacher students and one game.