Sustainable mobility education through escape rooms: A gender perspective

Abstract

This study explores the gender dimension in sustainable mobility, focusing on how interactive technologies and gamification, particularly Escape Rooms (ER), can promote awareness and behavioural changes. Despite the literature on sustainable mobility and gender, few studies analyse the intersection of these topics with gamification techniques. This research addresses this gap by examining how gender differences and ER modalities (physical and digital) influence learning, motivation, and satisfaction in sustainable mobility education. The study involved 388 students aged 10–13 who participated in a physical or digital ER experience designed to teach sustainable mobility concepts. The methodology included developing ER narratives and challenges and administering pre- and post-activity questionnaires to assess real and perceived learning acquisition, motivation, and satisfaction. Data analysis was conducted using confirmatory factor analysis and variance analysis to evaluate the impact of gender and ER modality. The results indicate no significant gender differences in learning outcomes on sustainable mobility and satisfaction with the ER experience, suggesting that ERs can be equitable educational tools. However, physical ERs showed higher motivation levels among boys than girls, highlighting the need for inclusive design considerations. This research contributes to understanding how gamified educational experiences can be designed, analysing how a balanced incorporation of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational elements could maintain the motivation of all children. These findings support ERs as effective and inclusive tools to raise awareness and encourage fostering sustainable behaviours among young learners. However, some caution should be taken in the design of their elements.