Future teachers seek to avoid climate emergency with a virtual escape room: can a virtual escape room generate positive emotions in students?

Abstract

Students often show negative attitudes and emotions towards the study of science. It is important to design learning situations that achieve positive emotions among students, since it has been shown that these favour the learning process. The aim of this study was to implement a virtual escape room in the subject of Knowledge of Natural Sciences in the Degree of Primary Education at the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR) in an entirely online environment and to analyse the self-perceived emotions of the students and the degree of satisfaction with the learning experience. The results show that the experience has a positive impact on learning, the emotions experienced, and the satisfaction of the students. It is concluded that virtual escape rooms are presented as a way of approaching learning through different creative challenges, which allow for the creation of a positive emotional environment in which the teaching and learning process is more attractive.