Authors
Cory Brolliar, Paige Cox, Michael Oswald, Katherine Williamson
Advisors
Katherine Foo, Lorraine Higgins
Term
March – May, 2018
Abstract
We worked with Banksia Gardens Community Services to develop a mystery room program for their after-school homework club. A mystery room is an immersive, hands-on experience where participants complete a series of activities to complete a target objective, and our team created one with the goal of heightening student engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) concepts. To do this, we researched student engagement and expert processes for designing mystery rooms, and conducted observations of the participants’ interests and soft skills. Based on this, we developed an iterative design process to create a fantasy mystery room experience. We then piloted our room with eleven participants, which we assessed through observation and post-experience focus groups. During the experience, most of the participants were actively listening and responding to the actors. A majority of them were working together to solve puzzles and for the most part believed that they were in a new world. From this, we determined that mystery rooms provide an engaging experience for students, spark their interest in learning, and that incorporating a brief post-experience lesson would further solidify academic concepts.
Final Report
Mystery Room: Engaging Marginalized Youth through an Immersive Experience