We can't die!
Families' emotions in an escape room game at Espacio Ciencia (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Keywords:
escape room, learning experiences, meaningful experiences, emotional responses, informal educationAbstract
Recent studies in the field of informal education have demonstrated the driving role of emotions in learning. To understand how emotions relate to meaningful and learning experiences, we analyzed the conversations and interactions of eight families (totaling 37 individuals, 17 were children) during their participation in an escape room game at Espacio Ciencia, in Montevideo, Uruguay). Data was collected using a subjective camera and analyzed using Dedoose software to organize emotions. The results show that the escape game studied aroused positive and negative emotions with a high degree of activation, the most frequent being: amusement, excitement, surprise, satisfaction, stress, and frustration, demonstrating that the escape game was perceived as fun and enjoyable. Together, these emotions stimulated and challenged families to complete the tasks of the escape game, using their intuition, creativity, and knowledge to complete the tasks of the escape game. In turn, the mediators, by providing explanations, developed an understanding of scientific concepts and in solving the challenges of the game. In summary, our results show that emotions were associated with families’ interest and active participation.
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