IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i4p2323-d503036.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Study of the Training of Environmentalists through Gamification as A University Course

Author

Listed:
  • Paz Fernández

    (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain)

  • Matías Ceacero-Moreno

    (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain)

Abstract

The United Nations Agenda for 2030 lists Sustainable Development Goals which include quality education, which we have pursued in the Undergraduate Final Project of the Environmental Sciences Degree at the University of Granada (Spain). This entailed designing sustainable cities, including the management of natural hazards. We created an innovative didactic model using gamification, in which the student adopted the researcher role using the computer game Cities: Skylines as a simulation tool. Using a design-based method, we conducted a qualitative single-case study in which the professor observed the process and guided the student’s self-learning in a fun way. Under this guidance, the student made decisions alone in order to simulate a sustainable city, and afterwards to analyse the findings. Three variables were considered in order to evaluate the results concerning the quality of the student’s learning: (1) the experiment using the game, (2) motivation, and (3) the skills acquired. In all three, the student earned a high score. Of the 12 skills established as the specific goals of the teaching plan, the student reached a very high level in 10, and a high level in two, implying the overall success of the learning process. The study achieved its main goal, as an innovative didactic methodology was established based on student’s research, using gamification and simulation with a technological tool. Moreover, the case study gave positive results, with the student proving capable of developing scientific and professional competencies at an optimal level.

Suggested Citation

  • Paz Fernández & Matías Ceacero-Moreno, 2021. "Study of the Training of Environmentalists through Gamification as A University Course," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2323-:d:503036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2323/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2323/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tammara Soma & Belinda Li & Virginia Maclaren, 2020. "Food Waste Reduction: A Test of Three Consumer Awareness Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Shengjun Wu & Jie Wang & Guiwu Wei & Yu Wei, 2018. "Research on Construction Engineering Project Risk Assessment with Some 2-Tuple Linguistic Neutrosophic Hamy Mean Operators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-26, May.
    3. Edris Alam, 2020. "Landslide Hazard Knowledge, Risk Perception and Preparedness in Southeast Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-12, August.
    4. Marine Simon & Alexandra Budke, 2020. "How Geography Textbook Tasks Promote Comparison Competency—An International Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-19, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maria Elena Latino & Marta Menegoli & Fulvio Signore & Maria Chiara De Lorenzi, 2023. "The Potential of Gamification for Social Sustainability: Meaning and Purposes in Agri-Food Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.
    2. Aleksander Buczacki & Bartłomiej Gładysz & Erika Palmer, 2021. "HoReCa Food Waste and Sustainable Development Goals—A Systemic View," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Seol A. Kwon, 2022. "Where Does an Individual’s Willingness to Act on Alleviating the Climate Crisis in Korea Arise from?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Siqi Zhang & Hui Gao & Guiwu Wei & Yu Wei & Cun Wei, 2019. "Evaluation Based on Distance from Average Solution Method for Multiple Criteria Group Decision Making under Picture 2-Tuple Linguistic Environment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Edris Alam & Fahim Sufi & Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam, 2023. "A Scenario-Based Case Study: Using AI to Analyze Casualties from Landslides in Chittagong Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-20, March.
    6. Celia Burgaz & Vanessa Gorasso & Wouter M. J. Achten & Carolina Batis & Luciana Castronuovo & Adama Diouf & Gershim Asiki & Boyd A. Swinburn & Mishel Unar-Munguía & Brecht Devleesschauwer & Gary Sacks, 2023. "The effectiveness of food system policies to improve nutrition, nutrition-related inequalities and environmental sustainability: a scoping review," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(5), pages 1313-1344, October.
    7. Zengxian Li & Guiwu Wei & Hui Gao, 2018. "Methods for Multiple Attribute Decision Making with Interval-Valued Pythagorean Fuzzy Information," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-27, October.
    8. A. S. M. Maksud Kamal & Farhad Hossain & Bayes Ahmed & Md. Zillur Rahman & Peter Sammonds, 2023. "Assessing the effectiveness of landslide slope stability by analysing structural mitigation measures and community risk perception," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 117(3), pages 2393-2418, July.
    9. Jie Wang & Guiwu Wei & Hui Gao, 2018. "Approaches to Multiple Attribute Decision Making with Interval-Valued 2-Tuple Linguistic Pythagorean Fuzzy Information," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-45, October.
    10. Liangping Wu & Guiwu Wei & Jiang Wu & Cun Wei, 2020. "Some Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Dombi Heronian Mean Operators and their Application for Evaluating the Ecological Value of Forest Ecological Tourism Demonstration Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-31, January.
    11. Liangping Wu & Guiwu Wei & Hui Gao & Yu Wei, 2018. "Some Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Dombi Hamy Mean Operators and Their Application for Evaluating the Elderly Tourism Service Quality in Tourism Destination," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Claudia Giordano & Silvio Franco, 2021. "Household Food Waste from an International Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-9, May.
    13. Jiahuan He & Xindi Wang & Runtong Zhang & Li Li, 2019. "Some q -Rung Picture Fuzzy Dombi Hamy Mean Operators with Their Application to Project Assessment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-28, May.
    14. Mirela Stanciu & Agatha Popescu & Iuliana Antonie & Camelia Sava & Bogdan Gabriel Nistoreanu, 2022. "Good Practices on Reducing Food Waste Throughout the Food Supply Chain," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 24(60), pages 566-566, April.
    15. Sahar Ahmadzadeh & Tahmina Ajmal & Ramakrishnan Ramanathan & Yanqing Duan, 2023. "A Comprehensive Review on Food Waste Reduction Based on IoT and Big Data Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-19, February.
    16. G.K. Koulinas & O.E. Demesouka & P.K. Marhavilas & A.P. Vavatsikos & D.E. Koulouriotis, 2019. "Risk Assessment Using Fuzzy TOPSIS and PRAT for Sustainable Engineering Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, January.
    17. Thanos Ioannou & Katerina Bazigou & Afroditi Katsigianni & Michalis Fotiadis & Christina Chroni & Thrassyvoulos Manios & Ioannis Daliakopoulos & Christos Tsompanidis & Eleni Michalodimitraki & Katia L, 2022. "The “A2UFood Training Kit”: Participatory Workshops to Minimize Food Loss and Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, February.
    18. Haley Everitt & Paul van der Werf & Jamie A. Seabrook & Jason A. Gilliland, 2023. "The Proof Is in the Pudding: Using a Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Long-Term Effectiveness of a Household Food Waste Reduction Intervention During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.
    19. Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Jonas Šaparauskas & Jurgita Antucheviciene, 2018. "Sustainability in Construction Engineering," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-7, June.
    20. Panpan Zhang & Dan Zhang & Shengkui Cheng, 2020. "The Effect of Consumer Perception on Food Waste Behavior of Urban Households in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-14, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2323-:d:503036. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.