IPEC Domain/Competency 

Teams and Teamwork

Sub-Competency

TT4 Integrate the knowledge and experience of team members appropriately to achieve shared goals

Goals and objectives

• Practice intentional information sharing
• Integrate diverse perspectives to solve complex problems
• Reflect on collective decision-making under time pressure

Materials

• Sequential puzzles or challenges (e.g., puzzle relay race, logic grid puzzles, mystery box challenge, etc.); locks or codes; timer

Activity description

Teams work together to solve a sequence of interconnected puzzles with a defined time limit. Each puzzle contributes partial but critical information required to complete the overall challenge.

Success depends not on individual achievement but on the team’s ability to effectively collaborate. Participants must share findings, divide tasks, and integrate ideas based on new information as a group. The activity requires teams to balance autonomy and collaboration and make collective decisions under time pressure.

Facilitators observe how teams leverage individual strengths, coordinate interdependent tasks, manage competing ideas, coordinate parallel tasks, and maintain shared understanding of goals and progress.

Reflection emphasizes integration of perspectives, communication strategies, and coordination across team roles. Reflection focuses on the characteristics of high-performing teams, including shared accountability, integration of expertise, collaborative decision-making, and the ways in which effective teamwork enables groups to achieve outcomes that exceed what individuals could accomplish independently.

Debrief Questions

1. How did your team use the unique knowledge, skills, or perspectives of its team members to achieve the overall goal?
2. What strategies helped your team coordinate multiple tasks while maintaining a shared understanding of priorities and progress?
3. How did the team integrate information and ideas from different members to develop effective solutions throughout the challenge?
4. What examples of shared leadership and decision-making contributed to team’s success?
5. What team processes or behaviors enabled your team to work efficiently under time pressure while maintaining collaboration and engagement?
6. If you could complete the challenge again, what would you do differently to better leverage the strengths and expertise of individual team members?
7. In what ways did your team's collective performance exceed what individual members could have accomplished independently/alone?
8. How does this experience relate to working on an interprofessional or interdisciplinary team in an academic or professional setting?

Closing Reflection

How did integrating the knowledge and perspectives of multiple team members help your team achieve something that would have been difficult for any individual to accomplish alone?

Use

Mid- to advanced-level teamwork development (i.e., Performing stage of team development); capstone-adjacent IPE or IDE experiences

Estimated time

• Setup & instructions: 5–10 minutes
• Activity (puzzle sequence): 20–30 minutes
• Debrief/reflection: 15 minutes
• Total: 40–55 minutes

Variation for IPE or IDE experiences

• IPE: Design puzzles that require input from different professional or disciplinary perspectives; reflection emphasizes integration of expertise and collaborative decision-making
• IDE: Use before a collaborative group project; challenges emphasize coordination across roles, functions, or organizational responsibilities

Additional Resources

• Veldkamp, A., et al. (2020). Escape Education: A Systematic Review on Escape Rooms in Education.
• Brotto, G., & Lim, I. (2026). Using an Escape Room to Develop Collaborative Skills in Criminology Students.
• Manzano‑León, A., et al. (2021). Escape Rooms as a Learning Strategy for Special Education Master’s Degree Students.

References

• Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384–399.
• Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (2010). Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited. Group Facilitation, 10, 43–48.
• Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Ilgen, D. R. (2006). Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 7(3), 77-124.

Adapted by: CHBS IPE and IDE Council, James Madison University
Suggested Citation: CHBS IPE and IDE Council. (2026). Collaborative Escape Challenge – Integrating Team Knowledge. CHBS IPE & IDE Instructional Toolkit. James Madison University.