Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 11 Summer 2019 | Page 44

ARTICLE #2
Escape [to] the Library: Reframing the
Library Induction
Abstract
Escape [to] the Library:
Reframing the Library
Induction
Piloting the use of an escape room activity as a subject specific
library induction provides an opportunity to advance beyond
imparting knowledge to demonstrating the attainment of higher
order thinking skills, such as, analysis through engagement with
the puzzles, and evaluation and reflection from the debrief
following the success (or failure) of the activity. Gamification
is generally used to encourage extrinsic motivation through
rewards, though the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the
pilot shows that using game design elements helps encourage
intrinsic motivation where playing the game is its own reward.
Whilst successful, the pilot came with challenges and limitations,
such as, scheduling and timing, though still begs the question, is
this the future of library induction?
Author:
S. Chesworth
DOI:
doi.org/10.21252/aw5m-
sp38
Contact:
s.chesworth@keele.
ac.uk
Context and Objectives
Keywords:
Escape Room, Library
Induction, Gamification,
Gamified Learning
“I want to play a game…” – Jigsaw
Perhaps an unusual place to start with the idea of reframing a
library induction, but this quote from the 2004 horror film, Saw,
inspired my love of escape rooms and many commercial escape
rooms riff off this as well as Cube (Nicholson, 2015) creating an
atmosphere from those films without fatal consequences.
Libraries lend themselves well to the escape room environment,
encouraging exploration, which is part of the fun of an escape
room. Through this paper, I will reflect upon my experience of
developing the escape room activity as a subject specific library
induction for forensic science students, looking at the role games
can play in developing a higher level learning experience and
consider the future of this activity beyond this pilot.
Instead of a standard induction for first years, the forensic
science department requested a treasure hunt to familiarise
them with the Library through finding and solving clues. I
wanted to develop a crime scene game to make the induction
subject specific, so with my love of escape rooms, games and the
offer to buy any equipment I needed, it provided an opportunity
to develop an escape room activity. Escape rooms are typically
about escaping a room, so I developed this as an escape room
type activity helped by the purchase of safes and black lights
(ultraviolet light torches). Solving puzzles to unlock items is a key
part of an escape room, so having this equipment gave me the
greenlight for developing this using those tropes.
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