Digital Games to Produce Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors: A Mixed-Methods Study in India

• In Event: Technology, STEM Learning, and Contexts

Abstract

People don’t perform pro-environmental behaviors although they are aware that anthropogenic activities cause environmental degradation because they believe they cannot make a difference. To teach young learners, interventions that break barriers and change their behaviors are required, such as digital games-based learning (DGBL). This mixed-methods study compared environmental attitudes among students who played a game designed for environmental sustainability education and students who did not, in a high school in India. Prior to this study, all students studied environmental education by traditional methods. Students who played the game had significantly higher environmental attitudes based on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale and thematic analysis of interviews. This study showed that DGBL was more effective than traditional methods in attitudinal education.

Authors

• Shamila Janakiraman, Purdue University

• Sunnie Lee Watson, Purdue University

• William R. Watson, Purdue University

• Daniel P. Shepardson, Purdue University