Since digitalization is changing the role of teachers, teacher training students must be enabled to interact critically and proficiently with digital media in the classroom, and this must begin during their university training.  However, research suggests that student teachers in Germany have low expectations of their own ability to use digital media in the classroom. This is exacerbated by the fact that this group of students appears to have low average motivation for taking courses that teach digitalization-related skills, and the state-regulated curriculum leaves little room for such offers in teacher training.

To give students an opportunity to demonstrate their practical digitalization skills in the form of a self-assessment at the beginning of their studies, the University of Passau has developed an Educational Escape Room (DiLab Escape), a narratively framed game in which players solve puzzles/tasks cooperatively to achieve a goal. The game experience is followed by a reflection on the performance and an advice on potential university offers to expand their skills. Based on the research literature on Educational Escape Rooms, which primarily focuses on and emphasizes the motivational benefits of the game format, we assume that this gaming experience in combination with the follow-up reflection session can help students to better assess the expectations of their future field of work. We assume that they are able to better reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses in order to take advantage of appropriate offers during their studies. However, based on the fundamental literature on game-based learning, a usability research and design-based research approach must first be used to determine whether the game ultimately delivers what it sets out to achieve. Accordingly, DiLab Escape was tested, refined, and empirical data on effectiveness and participation was collected over two study terms with a total of 59 students.

The article presents the fundamental steps for developing DiLab Escape based on the literature and discusses the translation of competency frameworks into puzzles that form the basis for the game. In a second step, the article discusses the empirical data on the success of the game concept. Thirdly, we will present the structure of the subsequent research design with control groups, which will examine the motivational effectiveness of Educational Escape Games in contrast to more traditional settings.

Keywords: Teacher education, game-based learning, escape rooms, digitalization.