Escape room digital: promovendo o pensamento computacional na educação

Abstract

The presence of technology in everyday life and in the educational environment is increasingly noticeable. This phenomenon requires educational institutions to adapt to new trends, preparing more aware and active citizens. An essential skill in this context is Computational Thinking, which involves the ability to problematize and express solutions that are understandable to both humans and machines. An effective approach to developing Computational Thinking in students is the use of innovative technologies, such as games. Games not only capture students’ attention, but also promote problemsolving and the assimilation of complex concepts in an engaging way, and can develop skills and knowledge in various areas. Among the various types of games, those of the escape room genre are particularly suitable for teaching Computational Thinking. These immersive and narrative games encourage students’ motivation and interest, while solving progressive challenges facilitates learning and retention of information. Thus, this research aims to present a digital game in the escape room style to assist in teaching Computational Thinking to students from 5° to 6° grades of elementary school II. The development of the game was based on a bibliographic review, which establishes the pillars of Computational Thinking: decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction and algorithms. The methodological and technological aspects employed highlight the use of the framework EscapED for the production of educational escape rooms, including the definition of participants, educational objectives, theme and design of the challenges. The evaluation was developed from the application of a questionnaire based on the MEEGA+ model, seeking to analyze aspects of Usability, Player Experience and Learning Perception. As the main results of the evaluation, the game was considered a positive experience, however, suggestions for improvements emerged to enhance the immersion and efficiency of the game as an educational instrument. Regarding learning, the results reveal that the game can become a very useful tool in the teaching and learning of Computational Thinking.