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CompletedNCT05999305ER_GameUpdated Jan 3, 2024

Using an Escape Room Game in Teaching the Critical Care Nursing Course

An interventional study of Teaching the critical care nursing course with an Escape Room game and Teaching the critical care nursing course with a case-based learning in Critical Thinking, sponsored by Taipei Medical University. Completed at 1 site in Vietnam. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-01-03.

Sponsored by Taipei Medical University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
72
Allocation
Randomized
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Critical thinking is one of the most desired outcomes of nursing education worldwide. The impact of game-based learning, including the use of an escape room game, on the development of critical thinking ability in nursing students remains uncertain. The main purpose of this study is going to evaluate an escape room game as a learning method in Critical Care Nursing course in improving senior nursing students' critical thinking dispositions and skills. In addition to the main purpose, this study also aims to investigate the effects of incorporating an escape room game into a Critical Care Nursing course in improving senior nursing students' knowledge about critical care nursing, learning motivation, and satisfaction with the learning method. This is a two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial conducted on senior nursing students at Tra Vinh University in Vietnam. Two teaching methods in the Critical Care Nursing course will be applied.

Read the detailed description

Critical thinking is one of the most desired outcomes of nursing education worldwide. The impact of game-based learning, including the use of an escape room game, on the development of critical thinking ability in nursing students remains uncertain.

The main purpose of this study is going to evaluate an escape room game as learning method in Critical Care Nursing course in improving senior nursing students' critical thinking dispositions and skills. In addition to the main purpose, this study also aims to investigate the effects of incorporating an escape room game into a Critical Care Nursing course in improving senior nursing students' knowledge about critical care nursing, learning motivation, and satisfaction with the learning method.

This a two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial conducted on senior nursing students at Tra Vinh University in Vietnam. Two teaching methods in the Critical Care Nursing course will be applied. A conventional class with an escape room game will be implemented for the intervention group while a conventional class with case-based learning will be the teaching method for the comparison group.

The study will be a repeated-measurement design with three time points. Mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, t-test, and chi-squared test will be conducted. Generalized Estimating Equations will be used to analyze the intervention effect and time effect on scores of critical thinking dispositions and skills, knowledge of critical care nursing, and learning motivation over three-time points. Generalized Estimating Equations will also allow us to explore the interaction between group and time, as well as control for any potential covariates. The intention of this study is that its findings will offer valuable insights for faculty members to consider incorporating escape room games into their teaching methodologies.

02

Conditions studied

  • Critical Thinking

Keywords

  • thinking
  • escape
  • nursing
  • student
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Taipei Medical University is the lead sponsor of 245 studies on the registry; 56 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Nursing students who are in their senior year in the bachelor program and take Critical Care Nursing which is a required course.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
72 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    The intervention group

    The conventional class and an escape room game will be implemented for the intervention.

    Other: Teaching the critical care nursing course with an Escape Room game

  • Active comparator
    The comparison group

    The conventional class and a case-based learning will be implemented for the comparison

    Other: Teaching the critical care nursing course with a case-based learning

Interventions

  • OtherTeaching the critical care nursing course with an Escape Room game

    A teacher will begin with a 1.5-hour lecture, followed by an escape room game to reinforce learning through case studies for another 1.5 hours. The first section of the game will be a ten-minute pre-brief. The game will then begin promptly at a designated time and will be played in groups of six to seven students, with each group seated separately in a classroom. The game will last up to fifty minutes, during which all groups will be assisted to complete puzzles within the time limit. After the game, a fifteen-minute debriefing session will be held by the teacher, during which the students will reflect on their performance and what they learned about the cases and related topics. The teacher will finally provide feedback and support to the groups during this session.

  • OtherTeaching the critical care nursing course with a case-based learning

    Students in the comparison group will also receive a 1.5 hour lecture which is the same as those in the intervention group. Another 1.5 hour is a case-based learning session, with six sessions in total over six weeks. The case-based learning sessions will include a pre-brief, teamwork, and debrief, and will be facilitated by the same teacher and teaching assistant and will primarily be provided with paper-based case studies.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The critical thinking skills of nursing students

    The Critical Thinking Self-Assessment Scale (CTSAS) will be used to assess the critical thinking skills of nursing students. This 46-item scale is scored on a six-point Likert scale of 0 to 6, with 0 corresponding to "never" and 6 to "always." The total scores range from 0 to 276, with a higher score indicating a higher level in critical thinking skills.

    Time frame: The measurement will be repeated in three time points including the pre-test, immediately after the completion of the teaching course, and one month after the completion of the teaching course

  2. The critical thinking disposition of nursing students

    The Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (CTDS) will measure the critical thinking disposition of nursing students. The CTDS has 11 items with five-point Likert-type responses (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). The total scores range 11-55 for the scale, with 7-35 for the critical openness scale (the first seven items) and 4-20 for reflective skepticism (the last four items). The higher score indicates a better disposition of critical thinking.

    Time frame: The measurement will be repeated in three time points including the pre-test, immediately after the completion of the teaching course, and one month after the completion of the teaching course

Secondary outcomes

  1. The knowledge about Critical Care Nursing of nursing students

    The retention of students' knowledge about Critical Care Nursing will be evaluated through a structured questionnaire. It will consist of thirty multiple-choice questions, covering six topics of the course. Participants will select one answer or "don't know" per question. Each correct response will be scored one points and incorrect response or "don't know" will be scores zero points, resulting in a total score

    Time frame: The measurement will be repeated in three time points including the pre-test, immediately after the completion of the teaching course, and one month after the completion of the teaching course

  2. Student's learning motivation

    The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) will be used to assess the students' learning motivation. This 31-item instrument is a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all true of me) to 7 (very true of me). The total scores range from 31 to 217 with a higher score indicating a higher motivation level.

    Time frame: The measurement will be repeated in three time points including the pre-test, immediately after the completion of the teaching course, and one month after the completion of the teaching course

  3. Students' satisfaction with the course.

    The 13-item student satisfaction questionnaire was developed to assess students' satisfaction with the teaching method and also their experience with the learning activities throughout the course. This is a 5-point Likert scale (ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). The total score ranges from 13 to 65, with higher scores indicating a higher level of satisfaction.

    Time frame: The measurement will be conducted immediately after the completion of the teaching course.

  4. The Escape Room Perception of nursing students

    The Escape Room Perception Scale (ERPS) will be used to evaluate the perception of nursing students about the escape room game, including its effectiveness in supporting their learning, the nature of the learning activity, and the team learning. The perception scale includes twelve items and is a five-point Likert scale ranging from "1 = strongly disagree" to "5 = strongly agree." The higher scores that participants achieve, the more satisfied they will feel about a game, and also indicating the effectiveness of the escape room game.

    Time frame: The measurement will be conducted immediately after the completion of the teaching course.

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Nursing Department of Tra Vinh University
    Tra Vinh, 87110, Vietnam
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — The detailed description of this study and outcomes as well

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 3, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05999305
Lead sponsor
Taipei Medical University
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Aug 21, 2023
Start date
Sep 8, 2023
Primary completion
Nov 30, 2023
Completion
Nov 30, 2023
Last update
Jan 3, 2024

Study contacts

Yeu-Hui Chuang, Professor
principal investigator · School of Nursing, College of Nursing of Taipei Medical University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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