Gamification is the integration of game elements into non-game contexts like education. This research evaluates the effectiveness of digital escape rooms (DERs) as an instructional aid to enhance technical vocabulary acquisition among engineering students in a rural classroom in Tamil Nadu. The researchers employed a quasi-experimental mixed-method research design to evaluate the effectiveness of escape rooms. The study is grounded in gamification and flow theories, which provide a robust theoretical framework for thematic analysis and interpretation. The samples of the study (n = 50) are further divided into experimental and control groups to measure the effectiveness of the escape room intervention. Quantitative analysis after pre- and post-tests revealed a significant improvement in the mean score of the experimental group over the control group. Qualitative analysis also showed that participants belonging to the experimental group exhibited intrinsic motivation, active involvement, and sustained vocabulary development. The findings of this study suggest that DERs can serve as a bridge between conventional classrooms and technology-driven instruction, along with other new instructional techniques.
Elamurugan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.