CrashEd – A live immersive, learning experience embedding STEM subjects in a realistic, interactive crime scene

Abstract

Interactive experiences are rapidly becoming popular via the surge of 'escape rooms'; part game and part theatre, the 'escape' experience is exploding globally, having gone from zero offered at the outset of 2010 to at least 2800 different experiences available worldwide today. CrashEd is an interactive learning experience that parallels many of the attractions of an escape room Á it incorporates a staged, realistic 'crime scene' and invites participants to work together to gather forensic evidence and question a witness in order to solve a crime, all whilst competing against a ticking clock. An animation can enhance reality and engage with cognitive processes to help learning; in CrashEd, it is the last piece of the jigsaw that consolidates the students' incremental acquisition of knowledge to tie together the pieces of evidence, identify a suspect and ultimately solve the crime. This article presents the background to CrashEd and an overview of how a timely placed animation at the end of an educational experience can enhance learning. The lessons learned, from delivering bespoke versions of the experience to different demographic groups, are discussed. The article will consider the successes and challenges raised by the collaborative project, future developments and potential wider implications of the development of CrashEd.Keywords: animations; avatars; connectivism; higher education Introduction Unfortunately, a crime scene might be found anywhere. This includes the home, the workplace and anywhere within our towns, cities or on our transport systems. According to figures issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were approximately 7.8 million crimes committed against households and adults (aged 16 and over), in the year ending June 2014 (ONS 2015). Whilst this figure, according to the ONS, represented a decrease in crime overall at the time, records for individuals killed or seriously injured on our roads revealed a 4% rise for the same period (Department of Transport 2014). Fuelled by media reports of the tragic events caused by the impact of crime and their secondary representation within TV drama and documentary, society now has a largely voyeuristic relationship with crime and its investigation. According to Chermak (1994), Greer (2009) andHall (1973), amongst others, contemporary media content has seen an expansion from the lexical to a more visual interpretation of criminal behaviours and the investigative procedures employed by enforcement agencies to reduce them. It is therefore perhaps unsurprising that, like the generation before them, young people have a fascination with crime.As a catalyst for learning, texts, codes and conventions representing the content of popular crime drama, have for a number of years been increasingly employed in studies of English, Drama and Media at GCSE and A Level. There is even a suggestion that as a result of the number of TV programmes such as CSI (Crime Scene Investigation), there is the potential for influencing legal procedures. Whilst the 'CSI ef...

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