How serious game can help protect environment
How serious game can help protect environment
How serious game can help protect environment
By Mirage News
November 17, 2022
Summary
Do you like gaming? Games are not only fun but can also help to learn more about all kinds of subjects - including complex matter such as environmental systems.
An international research team has investigated whether learning about the "Critical zone" via a digital serious game can affect adults' systems thinking about the environment and create support for policies to protect the environment.
Alexander Klippel, Professor at Wageningen University & Research and co-author of the study: "But it still remains an open question how to foster, encourage, and facilitate system thinking. Not only in communication and education but also in decision-making."
To address some of these challenges, researchers from Penn State and Wageningen University & Research have developed a serious game to educate the general public about one of the most complex systems, the critical zone.
Lead author Pejman Sajjadi: "One of the most promising approaches to establishing a culture of system thinking in communication and education is the use of serious games." This vision is coming true: we see games and gamification establish their place in the scientific community as powerful tools to address some of the most pressing societal problems in all parts of the world.
As Janet Swim, one of the co-authors of the study, notes: "One caveat that serious games still have is a certain lack of empirical validation." Do they work, or are they just shiny objects that excite people but fail scientific tests? To better understand the potential of serious games for system thinking, the research team has not only designed a game to educate the public but also a framework for assessing its effects.
"Exploring how water flows through a system and experiencing factors that affect the processes in the hydrosphere can help players understand how water is connected with the rest of the environment," said Janet Swim.
Reference
Mirage News. (2022, November 17). How serious game can help protect environment. Mirage News. Retrieved December 16, 2022, from https://www.miragenews.com/how-serious-game-can-help-protect-environment-897180/