Exploring the Influence of Digital Games on Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Based on the New Ecological Paradigm Scale: A Mixed-Methods Study in India

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities cause environmental degradation-related problems. However, people fail to perform pro-environmental behaviours because they believe that they cannot make a difference or they focus on short-term benefits. Interventions that address specific target groups aimed at breaking barriers and changing behaviours are required. To teach young learners, environmental education using digital games can be a more effective instructional method. This mixed-methods study, conducted among high school students in India, examined differences in pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours between students who played a game called EnerCities and those students who did not play that game. Significant differences existed between the two groups considering the unidimensional and multi-dimensional properties of the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale. Thematic analysis with an inductive approach identified from the interview data: How EnerCities changed participants’ environmental attitudes? This study finds implications for implementing games and using the NEP to examine environmental attitudes of high school students in India.

Technology in Nature—mDGBL as a Successful Approach to Promote Complex Contents?

“…Several instruments for quantifying attitudes toward nature and the environment for adults, children, and adolescents exist in the literature [29,57,58]. While some limit themselves to certain ecocentric or anthropocentric dimensions (e.g., Bogner and Wiseman 2006 [58]), others follow a one-dimensional approach and aim to depict the ecological paradigm of the respondents as a whole (e.g., Dunlap et al 2000 [57]).…”

“…Mobile DGBL approaches are well suited to the context of geography and ESD in various settings, and the associated transfer of subject-specific knowledge (SSK) seems to be very successful [25,26,[29][30][31][32][33][34]. While many studies in this field focus on immediate knowledge gain, there are still no studies examining any long-term retention of what has been learned [32,33].…”

“…No additional approval from our institution's ethics committee ("Kommission Forschung und Verantwortung") was required to carry out this study apart from the declaration of consent from the participants' legal guardians.The participants could indicate their gender as male, female, or diverse; in this study, the diverse category was not chosen by anyone and is therefore not considered in our analyses. For reasons of good scientific practice, the age parameter was also recorded and analyzed, but in contrast to gender, due to a rather narrowly defined target group and a relatively low age spread in the sample, we have no indication that significant effects are to be expected here.Several instruments for quantifying attitudes toward nature and the environment for adults, children, and adolescents exist in the literature[29,57,58]. While some limit themselves to certain ecocentric or anthropocentric dimensions (e.g., Bogner and Wiseman 2006[58]), others follow a one-dimensional approach and aim to depict the ecological paradigm of the respondents as a whole (e.g.,Dunlap et al 2000 [57]).…”

Analysis on the Influence of Western Ecological Aesthetics on Environmental Design of China’s “Beautiful Countryside”

“…In addition, the environmental humanistic value and artistic value in the township construction have not been paid enough attention. With the lack of effective and scientific design and control of agricultural development in the past, and the natural change caused by investors, the contradiction between agriculture, and housing has become more and more obvious [ 4 ]. Enterprises and communities pay more attention to production and business activities in agricultural areas, and there are situations that damage the agricultural landscape, such as deforestation and land reclamation.…”

Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung im Umbruch?

“…3 Sie begründet dies damit, dass sie früher nur als externe Lehrbeauftragte mit wenigen Stunden an der Hochschule gearbeitet hat, wodurch sie zum einen die "internen Abläufe" und "Anforderungen" der Hochschule nur oberflächlicher kannte und zum anderen weniger die gesamte "Entwicklung der Studierenden" im Blick hatte.vermittelndenDie Analysen haben gezeigt, dass bei den befragten Lehrenden unterschiedliche Verständnisse von Diskussionen vorliegen, die sich teilweise diametral gegenüberstehen: So erscheinen Diskussionen als zielgerichteter Suchprozess, als Lernzielkontrolle oder aber als Wissenskonstruktionsprozess.Transformation holds a deep fascination for many people: "Digital transformation" and "ecological transformation" are major themes in current public, policy and economic discourse.In education, interventions often flow towards what young people should know, how they should change their attitudes, what they should do. When digital technologies are mentioned in research in this context, they are often understood primarily as "tools" to support changes in understanding, attitudes, beliefs, values and lifestyle behaviour(Ahel & Lingenau, 2020;Al-Mulla, Ari, & Koç, 2022;Hallinger et al, 2020;Janakiraman et al, 2021;Spangenberger et al, 2020). Software and websites abound to support young people in critically engaging with their own consumer behaviour, or encouraging them to save heat, water and electricity.…”