CIAO! Online Escape Room: Assessment of Basic Mathematical Skills for Incoming Engineering Students

STEM education requires a solid foundation in mathematics, which is often lacking in incoming students. To address these gaps, Politecnico di Torino developed CIAO!/OAIC! (Corso Interattivo di Accompagnamento Online / Online Accompanying Interactive Course), an online preparatory course featuring a virtual escape room as its final self-assessment activity. This escape room, set in the digitalized spaces of the actual university, tests mathematical prerequisites through problem-solving challenges while providing immediate feedback. The study analyzes two implementations: a pilot with time constraints and prize incentives and an updated version with extended access and no external rewards. Results show that removing competitive elements and extending gameplay duration led to increased student engagement and higher success rates. The findings demonstrate that reduced time pressure facilitated deeper learning and knowledge consolidation. Additionally, the study reveals that external incentives did not significantly impact participation rates, suggesting that students’ intrinsic motivation to assess their mathematical readiness was sufficient to drive engagement with the platform.