“Stickier” learning through gameplay: an effective approach to climate change education
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
As the impacts of climate change grow, we need better ways to raise awareness and motivate action. Here we assess the effectiveness of an Arctic climate change card game in comparison with the more conventional approach of reading an illustrated article. In-person assessments with control/reading and treatment/game groups (N = 41), were followed four weeks later with a survey. The game was found to be as effective as the article in teaching content of the impacts of climate change over the short term, and was more effective than the article in long-term retention of new information. Game players also had higher levels of engagement and perceptions that they knew ways to help protect Arctic ecosystems. They were also more likely to recommend the game to friends or family than those in the control group were likely to recommend the article to friends or family. As we consider ways to broaden engagement with climate change, we should include games in our portfolio of approaches.
Date Issued
2021-01-06
Date Acceptance
2020-11-24
Citation
Journal of Geoscience Education, 2021, 69 (2), pp.192-206
ISSN
0022-1368
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
Start Page
192
End Page
206
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Geoscience Education
Volume
69
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
ß 2020 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-01-06