Game-based education promotes sustainable water use

Bilancini, Ennio; Bconcinelli, Leonardo; Paolo, Roberto Di

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-490913/v1

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…If on the one hand the multimedia exhibit is finished, on the other hand, scientific research will not be closed yet. The project plans to collect behavioural data on cooperation trying to further expand and diversify the sample, following the example of other virtuous projects (Bilancini et al 2021), involving schools other than the initial ones. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has made it very difficult to collect data within a museum, but the end of the health emergency can help research, easing the imposed limitations and allowing the sample to be enlarged.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Escape Games in Educational Programs for Financial Literacy

Bisanti

Paolo

Pizziol

et al. 2022

ECGBL

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Escape from the Castle is a digital escape game created with the collaboration of the Museum of Saving in Turin (Italy), Neuroscience Lab Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, and the GAME Science Research Center of IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca. In the escape game, players must help Mica, the mascot of the Museum, to run away from the Ghost of the Baroness, from its Castle. To do that, every player has to solve four puzzles in four different rooms. Each room is correlated to a financial issue, such as saving strategies and planning. The game aims to increase the awareness that money represents a means for achieving a purpose (i.e., use value of money) and not an end, from a behavioural and neuroscientific point of view. So we built a study about the behaviour of teenagers. According to the literature, the cooperative approach proposes emotional and cognitive involvement as a tool to strengthen learning, increases awareness of self-efficacy and, when applied to money management, increases the self-perception of being able to make consumption choices. To better understand the mechanisms of cooperation, we built an experiment with 118 students from eleven to fourteen years old, that played the game during a visit to the Museum. We divided students into two groups: one in which students could collaborate with each other in solving the puzzles (treatment) and one in which they had to play individually (control), and we collected score and time of play (behavioural data). In each group, two students wore eye-trackers to record pupil dilation to collect neurophysiological data. Here we present mainly the behavioural results that show that the students who were allowed to collaborate obtained, on average, double the score compared to those who played individually. Furthermore, those who collaborated finished the game in less time than those who have not played as a group. Moreover, combining behavioural data with neurophysiological data, there are indications that high pupil dilation is correlated with high engagement in play, and this is often true in collaborating groups.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Escape Games in Educational Programs for Financial Literacy

Bisanti

Paolo

Pizziol

et al. 2022

ECGBL

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“…The research protocol consists of a pre/post study implemented to measure sustainable behavior regarding water usage. Specifically, students' awareness about the efficient use of water was elicited using a questionnaire designed ad hoc by Bilancini et al (2023), which includes habits and sustainable behaviors related to water use (Appendix A.3 and A.4 report the original and the translated survey). The two surveys were collected just before the beginning of the program, in February 2019, and immediately after the end of the second phase, on May 2019.…”

Section: Research Protocolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The program was brought in several elementary schools of the city and relied on ludic engagement to teach students about the water cycle and to promote awareness about water waste and efficient water usage. In a previous study, Bilancini et al (2023) evaluated the effect of the educational program using a two-group design. Participants were assigned into a treatment group, for which the educational program was implemented, and a control group, composed of students not directly involved in the BLUTUBE program.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using the unique data collected throughout the program, with the present work, we aim to understand if gamification was successful, meaning that we analyze whether higher participation in the gamified activities is associated significantly and substantially with the increase in self-reported sustainable behavior previously documented in Bilancini et al (2023). Moreover, given the structure of the program, we are able to analyze which gamified part is associated with the increase of the sustainability measure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gamification and Sustainable Water Use: The Case of the BLUTUBE Educational Program

Paolo

Pizziol

2023

Simulation & Gaming

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Background In a world increasingly stressed by climate change and scarcity of natural resources, the prosocial behaviors of new generations become increasingly essential, especially when aimed at sustainability. This study aims to investigate the gamified system applied to the game-based educational program BLUTUBE, designed to promote better practices regarding virtuous water usage in the primary schools of the Municipality of Lucca. Methods We analyze the self-reported sustainable behaviors of almost 800 students of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades, using a survey about water consumption and awareness of related topics. We examine the association between the increase in the self-reported prosocial behaviors, which occurs after the end of the educational program, and participation in different activities - measured by the number of accumulated points - stimulated through gamification. Results We find that higher participation in gamified activities corresponds more likely to a higher increase in reported sustainable behaviors. Moreover, we observe that this result is led by specific activities - playing the board game Blutube at school, playing the urban game, and taking pictures of virtuous actions - rather than others - playing the board game at home. Lastly, given the difference between genders in the perceived benefits from gamification, we find that males increase more their awareness about sustainable behaviors by playing more the board game than females. In contrast, females raise their awareness when playing the urban game more. Discussion We suggest that playing the board game in a broader social context, such as school, can enhance the perception of children’s behaviors’ impacts on the external environment. Also, to effectively promote sustainable behaviors, educators should consider using game-based learning materials that incorporate rewards mechanisms into the activities. Conclusions This work sheds light on the relationship between gamification and pro-environmental behaviors, laying the ground for future research.

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“…Numerous studies have confirmed that game-based learning can enhance public knowledge on social issues, change attitudes toward sustainable development and related subjects [18][19][20][21], increase motivation and facilitate different kinds of learning [16], and equip learners with the complex, cross-disciplinary concepts and knowledge necessary for the practice of sustainable development [22][23][24][25][26]. Based on its various advantages, game-based learning should be integrated into education [15] to deliver knowledge on comprehensive sustainable development to the public.…”

Section: Game-based Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Game-Based Experiential Learning to Comprehensive Sustainable Development-Based Education

Hsu

Lai

et al. 2022

Sustainability

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To promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), public awareness of the importance and urgency of sustainable development should be raised by providing relevant education programs. Although game-based learning has been confirmed to be one of the most effective routes to deepen public understanding of the SDGs and sustainable development in general, games for comprehensive sustainable development-based courses have yet to be popularized. Thus, we developed a game-based learning approach that delivers comprehensive conceptual information on SDGs. Based on Kolb’s theory of experiential learning, students understood the relevance of the SDGs by playing a board game designed to simulate the real world, including national and international policies. Furthermore, considering the suspension of in-person learning and shifts to digital instruction caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a digital version of the board game was created to compare the effects of digital and non-digital game-based learning. A comprehensive sustainable development evaluation questionnaire was developed and optimized using the fuzzy Delphi method to assess the participants’ knowledge of and attitudes toward the SDGs. Our results reveal that the digital and non-digital board game both improve students’ knowledge and attitude toward sustainable development. However, the digital board game was more effective than the non-digital board game.

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Game-based education promotes sustainable water use

Cited by 6 publications

References 14 publications

Digital Escape Games in Educational Programs for Financial Literacy

Digital Escape Games in Educational Programs for Financial Literacy

Gamification and Sustainable Water Use: The Case of the BLUTUBE Educational Program

Applying Game-Based Experiential Learning to Comprehensive Sustainable Development-Based Education

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