Chapter 9 Gaming Education
Learning about Climate Change through Digital Game-Based Teaching
In: Education for Democracy 2.0Search for other papers by Tania Ouariachi in
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Abstract
Climate change is a global pressing challenge that requires social action in which young people are called upon to make a difference. However, surveys show that knowledge of the issue is still limited and that a strong commitment to adopting measures for mitigating and adapting to climate change is still lacking. While scientific literacy is important for many reasons, it is too simplistic to think that educational approaches with emphasis on reasoning skills are sufficient to bring about a change. The existence of climate change skepticism and denial forces us to consider a more effective strategy: a strategy for educators that should also embrace digital media literacy to inspire independent thinking and critical analysis with the goal of participating in meaningful ways to a society with a changing climate. Taking into consideration that young people are constantly exposed to digital games, there is an urgent need to explore this type of media. The proposed chapter aims to present an overview of currently available climate change games based on literature review and web search. A second objective is to discuss a project intervention in class using a climate and energy-related game with Spanish and American students: the impact on students and the experience by teachers. Finally, we provide in this chapter a framework with validated criteria by a panel of experts to critically analyze climate change games