Designing an Educational Escape Room for the US Government

In November 2019, I got an email out of the blue from an “Education Specialist” who works in the US State Department, but was based in Frankfurt, Germany! Their Frankfurt office trains ~2000 US government employees per year, and apparently they decided they wanted to create an escape room to improve their educational outcomes. Because of a “Designing Escape Rooms” course that I recently co-taught at Hampshire College, their Google search found me, and our collaboration began. This showcase presentation will describe the goals, details, challenges, and ongoing results of an educational escape room project with the US State Department office based in Frankfurt, Germany.