Escape room profile

maSTEM game

maSTEM game (a Multilingual Approach to STEM disciplines in GAME-based learning) is a Public Engagement project developed by the University of Turin to promote active and inclusive STEM education through educational escape rooms. The project combines science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and foreign languages using a game-based and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach.

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The Story

The Narrative

The first educational escape rooms on medical physics and multilingualism were developed by the Departments of Physics and Languages at UniTo in 2021. What started as an experimental outreach activity quickly evolved into a collaborative network involving more than ten university departments, museums, scientific societies, and territorial partners. Each escape room tells a different story: from medical science and diagnostic technologies to One Health challenges. Participants become explorers, investigators, or problem-solvers immersed in scientific mysteries where every clue opens the door to a new discovery. The narrative dimension transforms science into an emotional and memorable experience.

Inside the Experience

The core elements of the experience.

Your Role

Your mission is to work as a team to solve scientific enigmas before time runs out. Players must observe their surroundings, interpret hidden messages, manipulate experimental objects, and unlock mechanisms to progress through the rooms. Every challenge is inspired by real STEM concepts and often includes multilingual elements designed to stimulate communication and reasoning skills. Depending on the chosen escape room, participants may investigate medical technologies, discover overlooked scientists, or explore environmental sustainability and animal welfare. Cooperation, creativity, critical thinking, and curiosity are the keys to completing the adventure successfully.

Scientific Focus

Participants discover how STEM disciplines are deeply connected to everyday life, healthcare, sustainability, and society. The escape rooms introduce themes such as medical imaging, waves and diagnostics, microbiology, antibiotic resistance, One Health, environmental protection, and the history of science. Several activities also include English-language clues inspired by the CLIL educational approach. The project promotes interdisciplinary thinking by showing how physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, and languages can work together to solve real-world problems. Alongside scientific content, the activities encourage reflection on inclusion, gender stereotypes, and the social impact of science.

Distinctive Features

maSTEM game combines educational innovation, multilingualism, inclusion, and scientific outreach in a highly interactive format. Unlike traditional science communication activities, participants learn through direct engagement, collaboration, and immersive storytelling. The project integrates STEM subjects with foreign languages and creative disciplines such as art and museum heritage, creating a truly multidisciplinary experience. Simplified versions are also available for younger children starting from primary school. A strong emphasis is also placed on inclusion and gender equality, with activities specifically designed to reduce stereotypes and make STEM more accessible to all. Research questionnaires collected before and after the escape rooms show positive effects on interest in STEM, perceived usefulness of science, and reduction of perceived difficulty. The project collaborates with institutions and associations such as INFN, AIF, AIFM, ANILS, ARPA Piemonte, museums of the university system, and territorial partners.

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