Developing a serious game for improving youth environmental health literacy
Developing a serious game for improving youth environmental health literacy
Developing a serious game for improving youth environmental health literacy
September 14, 2022
Summary
The SE3 game will focus on exposure to environmental toxins in the home, where contaminants such as mold, smoke, lead, radon, and carbon monoxide increase the rates of many health conditions, including asthma, inflammation, lead poisoning and cancer.
Improving the environmental health literacy of youth through engaging serious games offers one critical approach to addressing these challenges.
Environmental themed games for youth have focused primarily on climate change and not on the daily environment youth face.
The proposed 2.5D style simulation game, aligned to education standards, will engage youth in learning as they design the physical and social environments of their own simulated worlds while monitoring environmental elements impacting the health of their characters.
If effective, the SE3 game will increase youth knowledge and understanding of environmental risks in the home and spur them to take action to reduce their risks, as well as risks to others.
For this Phase I effort, the research team will conduct formative research with the target audience to better understand their interest in and current sources of learning around environmental health, as well as their reaction to the planned game; develop a content outline for the complete game; develop a prototype game, utilizing youth for iterative feedback and testing; and conduct a play test pilot study to assess the impact of the game on knowledge and intentions.
Planned future Phase II efforts will include finishing development of the game, revisions based on Phase I testing, and a randomized controlled study to determine effectiveness on improving environmental health literacy, including knowledge and planned action among youth.
Reference
EurekaAlert! (2022, September 14). Developing a serious game for improving youth environmental health literacy. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/964627