Unlocking Success: Digital Escape Rooms in Math – Storytelling, Gamification, and "Inclusive" Engagement

Workshop Recommended citation: Dias Rasteiro, D. M. L., & Pinto, C. M. A. (2025). Unlocking Success: Digital Escape Rooms in Math – Storytelling, Gamification, and “Inclusive” Engagement. In Kangaslampi, R., Langie, G., Järvinen, H.-M., & Nagy, B. (Eds.), SEFI 53rd Annual Conference. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), Tampere, Finland. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17631527. This Conference Paper is brought to you for open access by the 53rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) at Tampere University in Tampere, Finland. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Unlocking Success: Digital Escape Rooms in Math – Storytelling, Gamification, and “Inclusive” Engagement D. M. L. Dias Rasteiroa, 1 , C. M. A. Pintob a Polytechnic University of Coimbra (IPC/ISEC), Coimbra, Portugal, 0000-00021228-6072 b ISEP-School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal, 0000-00020729-1133 Conference Key Areas: Teaching mathematics and physics in engineering education, Building the capacity and strengthening the educational competencies of engineering educators Keywords: Digital Escape Rooms, STEM courses, Mathematics, Higher Education, Hands-on ABSTRACT This workshop explores the potential of Digital Escape Rooms (DERs) to significantly enhance mathematics learning by leveraging storytelling, gamification, and inclusive design principles. Participants will confirm how embedding mathematical problems within narrative-driven contexts boosts student motivation and engagement. The incorporation of game mechanics, such as time constraints, rewards, and collaborative tasks, sustains student interest and actively cultivates essential problem-solving skills (Walters, 2018). Special attention will be given to inclusive strategies aimed at improving the experiences and outcomes for underrepresented groups, particularly female students in STEM courses within higher education settings, following the recommendations provided by the United Nations (United Nations, 2015). Participants will play, discuss and reflect on evidence indicating that inclusive DER designs enhance students' comfort levels, confidence, and competence, narrowing the gender gap in STEM-related problem-solving and gaming skills. The workshop will guide educators in integrating interactive and immersive DER activities into their mathematics teaching practice. Educators will explore methods to stimulate critical thinking, foster teamwork, and encourage perseverance among students. Furthermore, the session will provide opportunities for participants to share 1 Corresponding Author D. M. L. Dias Rasteiro [email protected] their insights, collaborate with peers, and develop strategies for ongoing refinement and evaluation within their professional communities. By the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have practical knowledge, tools, and actionable insights to implement and optimise DER-based strategies in their teaching contexts successfully. 1 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE In today’s education, engagement is key to effective learning, especially in STE(A)M fields like mathematics. Imagine stepping into a virtual world where math puzzles unlock hidden doors, equations reveal secret messages, and logic leads you through an exciting mystery. Digital Escape Rooms (DERs) transform traditional math instruction into an immersive experience, using storytelling and gamification to engage students and boost knowledge acquisition. Mathematics can often feel abstract, but storytelling brings it to life by embedding concepts in compelling narratives. This approach helps students connect with the instructional content, making learning more relatable and memorable. In this workshop, we will explore case studies where storytelling has reshaped math education. Gamification further enhances this experience by integrating game mechanics like points, levels, and challenges, creating a motivating and rewarding learning environment. DERs encourage critical thinking, collaboration, and persistence, helping students tackle complex problems in a supportive way (Ortiz et al., 2016; HernandezMartinez et al., 2024). DERs also promote equal participation in STEM by breaking gender stereotypes and catering to diverse learning styles. Through teamwork and shared problem-solving, students gain not just mathematical skills but confidence and a sense of belonging in STEM fields (Ortiz et al., 2016). Through practical examples and hands-on activities developed as outcomes of the Erasmus+ project entitled MATH-DIGGER (https://www.ipp.pt/mathdigger/), we will provide educators with a framework for designing Digital Educational Resources (DERs) that empower all students, making Mathematics more approachable and enjoyable (L. Babo et al., 2023; Rasteiro, D. M. L. D. et al., 2024). This project aims to enhance educational quality, promote collaboration, and foster transnational cooperation. The MATH-DIGGER platform, a free tool, enhances student engagement and motivation, supporting these goals. Join us as we explore how storytelling and gamification in DERs can inspire and empower students, turning math education into a thrilling adventure. 2 WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES The goal of this workshop is to explore how DERs can revolutionise math education through storytelling and gamification. We will demonstrate how these immersive experiences can make abstract mathematical concepts more engaging and memorable. Although participants will not be designing their escape rooms during the session, they will experience two digital escape rooms (DERs) first-hand and engage in guided reflection on their pedagogical design and learning potential. As a result, participants will: • Understand how storytelling and gamification are applied in the design of digital escape rooms for mathematics education. • Identify key features that make DERs effective for enhancing engagement, collaboration, and conceptual understanding. • Reflect critically on how DERs can be used to promote inclusivity and challenge gender stereotypes in STEM. • Leave with access to the escape rooms demonstrated and a structured framework for evaluating or adapting such resources in their teaching contexts. 2.1 Target audience • Higher education faculty & instructors • STEM educators & curriculum designers • EdTech enthusiasts & instructional designers • Anyone interested in innovative math education 2.2 Expected learning outcomes By the end of the workshop, participants will understand the role of storytelling in mathematics education and how it can enhance student engagement. They will explore gamification strategies that foster motivation and improve learning outcomes. Participants will also learn how to design inclusive digital escape rooms and will engage in hands-on activities to experience their pedagogical impact. 3 WORKSHOP DESIGN The workshop will be hands-on and interactive, beginning with an introduction to DERs and their role in math education. Two Digital Escape Rooms (DERs) will be presented during the workshop; however, participants will be invited to choose and play only one during the session. To ensure access to the whole experience, links to both DERs will be made available to all participants after the workshop, allowing them to explore the second activity at their own pace. Following the activity, we will discuss strategies for incorporating storytelling and gamification into lessons. Participants will also collaborate in small groups to design their own DER scenarios, tailored to diverse students’ needs. The session will conclude with a discussion on best practices and takeaways for implementing DERs in the classroom. 3.1 Time plan Table 1. Time plan Run time Activity Notes 5 min Introduction 10 min The Importance of Storytelling and Gamification in Math Education Examples sustained in published literature 20 min Playing the game Examples from MATH-DIGGER project 10 min Hands-on activity: scenario-building exercises 15 min Discussion & conclusions 3.2 Interactivity The workshop is highly interactive, immersing participants in hands-on activities. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops with an internet connection in order to be able to access the escape rooms directly. Attendees will experience a live DER, solving math-based tasks through engaging narratives. Small group collaboration will encourage teamwork, problem-solving, and creative thinking. Real-time feedback and debriefing sessions will allow participants to reflect on strategies and learning outcomes. Gamification elements like points, leaderboards, and timed challenges will enhance engagement. Participants will brainstorm, design their digital escape room scenarios and share them using an online tool. Case studies and demonstrations will showcase successful applications in diverse classrooms. Interactive discussions will explore best practices for the « inclusivity » of female students. Several active-learning techniques throughout the workshop will ensure dynamic participation. By the end, attendees will gain practical tools to implement DERs in their math courses. 4 WORKSHOP RESULTS The workshop examines how DERs can enhance math learning through storytelling, gamification, and inclusive engagement. Participants had the opportunity to observe or confirm that narrative-driven challenges boost motivation by providing meaningful contexts for math problems. At the same time, game mechanics such as time limits, rewards, and collaborative puzzles sustain interest and foster problem-solving skills. Emphasising “inclusive” design, the workshop highlights its anticipated, surprising impact on female students in STEM courses in higher education. As observed in other contexts, it is expected that female students report feeling comfortable with the tasks and demonstrate problem-solving abilities and game navigation skills comparable to their male counterparts. Digital escape rooms cultivate critical thinking, teamwork, and perseverance. Participants were guided to integrate these strategies into their teaching, share insights within professional communities, and continue refining approaches through ongoing evaluation. Based on the examples played and developed in the workshop, if there is a DER implementation in their curricular units, it is expected that teachers (participants of this workshop) observe increased student engagement and enthusiasm when math content is presented interactively. Eight participants completed the post-activity questionnaire (female = 6, male = 2; age: Mean = 42.25, SD = 11.89; range 20–56 years), representing institutions in Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and the USA. One of the participants was a Bachelor student in Engineering, two were Physics teachers, and the remaining five were Mathematics teachers for Engineering. Baseline exposure to game-based learning was mixed: 5 out of 8 reported having previously used computer games in educational settings, while familiarity with digital escape rooms (DERs) as a learning tool was modest (Mean = 3.13 on a 1–7 scale; median = 2.5). With respect to the materials trialled in the workshop, four participants experienced ER2 (Calculus related to construction), two experienced ER1 (Calculus related to energy concepts), and two engaged with both. A questionnaire regarding game user experience with Likert items (1 = strongly disagree – 7 = strongly agree). Collapsing items into a respondent-level index (mean across items), the overall agreement was positive and moderately concentrated (Mean = 4.38, median = 4.33, SD = 0.52). Internal consistency at this pilot stage was acceptable (Cronbach’s 𝛼 = 0.69), which is reasonable for a small, heterogeneous workshop sample and suggests the items are targeting a coherent construct of perceived usefulness/engagement. These descriptive results are consistent with the literature on digital game-based learning and escape-room-style activities, which typically report small-to-moderate positive effects on engagement and learning in STEM, including mathematics, across school and higher-education contexts. Qualitative responses converged on four actionable themes: (i) onboarding and wayfinding: participants requested “clear single steps to follow at the beginning” and for brief scaffolds so that students “get acquainted with the commands without losing time”. (ii) accessibility and context of use: One participant reported missing audio cues after muting their device, highlighting the need for multimodal cue redundancy. (iii) mathematical parameterisation: a preference for “nicer” or more canonical numbers in at least one puzzle to avoid needless arithmetic friction. (iv) affect and pacing: the countdown timer “made participants nervous,” echoing prior evidence that perceived time pressure can elevate stress and impair cognitive performance in demanding problemsolving contexts. Accordingly, a brief, optional tutorial (one or two gated micro-steps with immediate feedback), visual progress markers, non-audio redundancies for cues, carefully chosen numerical parameters (especially for integral set-ups), and a soft timer (visible pacing without penalising overtime completion) were proposed for classroom deployments. Within the specific domain of calculus-for-engineering, these pilot findings suggest that DERs can provide an engaging, low-stakes context to practise conceptual translation (e.g., geometric/physical interpretations of integrals) and procedural fluency, provided that scaffolds and artefacts are tuned to learners’ prior exposure. The observed patterns of perception and engagement are consistent with contemporary evidence indicating that DERs in STEM education can effectively foster collaboration, persistence, and conceptual consolidation through authentic, puzzledriven learning experiences. ACKNOWLEDGMENT All authors would like to thank the MATH-DIGGER Erasmus project – MATHematics DIGital Escape Rooms, No. 2021-1-PT01-KA220-HED-000032234. REFERENCES Hernandez-Martinez, P., & Keane, T. (2024). Learning mathematics and its relevance through a digital storytelling assessment task at university. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 1-17. L. Babo, C. M. A. Pinto, J. Mendonça, D. M. L. D. Rasteiro, Caridade, C. M. R. Z., Ulbrich, E., Rahmadi, I. F., Andjic, B., Abrori, F. M., Kocadere, S. A., Petridis, K., Nikolopoulos, C. D., Kokkinos, E. A., Vardiambasis, I. O. (2023). Mathematics digital escape rooms-empowering students. 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