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Cited by 21Educational Games and GamificationMathematics Education and Teaching TechniquesMathematics Education and Pedagogy

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Escape rooms technology as a way of teaching mathematics to secondary school students

Open access
Saleh Alabdulaziz, Mansour·2023·Education and Information Technologies
DOI 10.1007/s10639-023-11729-1PMC PMC10052216
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Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine whether Escape Rooms can be used as an active methodological approach for the purpose of teaching mathematics. The research adapted a quantitative approach via an experimental design. Two different study groups were established, the first of which comprised the control group who were taught using conventional training methods, and the second consisted of the experimental group, who were taught using a novel approach incorporating an Escape Room activity. The participants included 80 students who were all attending secondary school within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The findings revealed how the activity involving the Escape Room led to a significant enhancement in the student's motivation, achievement and autonomy. The conclusion can be drawn that using an Escape Room in mathematics teaching can enhance learning achievement, anxiety, motivation and autonomy, with students' negative attitudes regarding mathematics learning considered as an important variable, particularly with respect to autonomy and motivation. Hence, Escape Rooms can potentially be more effective than conventional methods for teaching mathematics.

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  • Timer/time pressure can be experienced as challenging/competence by learners with high initial amotivation and extrinsic motivation students.

    “| Timer/Time Pressure | Learners with high | Learners high in intrinsic | Lee et al. (2023); |”

    From Gamification on Mathematics Engagement and Motivation in Secondary School and Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2026) · cites this paper as Saleh Alabdulaziz (2023)

    The Discussion (page unavailable) says the escape-room tests had time limits and describes the ticking clock as thrilling; it also reports increased motivation after the activity. It does not say that time pressure fostered a sense of competence or distinguish learners with high initial amotivation or extrinsic motivation. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Timer/time pressure can be demotivating to learners high in intrinsic motivation, possibly increasing anxiety or undermining autonomy.

    “| | initial amotivation; | motivation (may increase | Reyssier et al. |”

    From Gamification on Mathematics Engagement and Motivation in Secondary School and Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2026) · cites this paper as Saleh Alabdulaziz (2023)

    The Discussion (page unavailable) describes timed escape-room tasks as exciting and reports improved motivation; it does not examine learners high in intrinsic motivation. The Results and Discussion (pages unavailable) address anxiety and autonomy, but do not link either to timer pressure. Searches for intrinsic motivation and time-pressure effects found no passage establishing the claimed possibility. (LLM, conf=0.74)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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2 of the 82 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Arnal, M., Macías, J., & Tosso, I. (2019). Escape Rooms as a Way to Teach Magnitudes and Measure in Degrees in Education. In Proceedings of the International Conference New Perspectives in Science Education, Florence, Italy, 18–19.
  2. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2004). Research methods in education (6th ed.). Routledge.
  3. Gay, L. R., & Airasian, P. (2000). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and application (6th ed.). Prentice Hall.
  4. Gay, L. R., & Airasian, P. W. (2003). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications (7th ed.). Mer-rill/Prentice Hall.
  5. Sakui, K. (2002). Motivation and autonomy: Japanese teachers’ perspectives. In Mackenzie, A. S & McCafferty, E. (eds.), Developing Autonomy. 73–78.
  6. Schoenfeld, A. H. (Ed.). (1994). Mathematical thinking and problem solving. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
  7. Singh K Granville M Dika S Mathematics and science achievement: Effects of motivation, interest, and academic engagement Journal of Educational Research 2002 95 6 323 332 10.1080/00220670209596607 · DOI
  8. Takagi, A. (2003). Learner autonomy and motivation in a cooperative learning class. In Barfield & Nix (Ed.), 129–140.

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Authors
Saleh Alabdulaziz, M.
ORCID
Saleh Alabdulaziz, Mansour
Venue
Education and Information Technologies
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-03-29
Volume
28
Issue
10
Pages
13459-13484
ISSN
  • 1360-2357 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-7608
DOI
10.1007/s10639-023-11729-1
PMC
PMC10052216
OpenAlex
W4361286059
Cited by
21
References
82
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1
FWCI
10.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Status
Retracted
Update notices
retraction (2026-10-17)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Education and Information Technologies (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
  • Social Sciences › Education › Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Applied Mathematics › Mathematics Education and Pedagogy
Keywords
escape rooms, mathematics education, high school students, student motivation, academic performance, student independence, mathematics anxiety, attitudes toward mathematics, active learning methodologies

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