“Stickier” learning through gameplay: An effective approach to climate change education

As the impacts of climate change grow, we need better ways to raise awareness and motivate action. Here we assess the effectiveness of an Arctic climate change card game in comparison with the more conventional approach of reading an illustrated article. In-person assessments with control/reading and treatment/game groups (N = 41), were followed four weeks later with a survey. The game was found to be as effective as the article in teaching content of the impacts of climate change over the short term, and was more effective than the article in long-term retention of new information. Game players also had higher levels of engagement and perceptions that they knew ways to help protect Arctic ecosystems. They were also more likely to recommend the game to friends or family than those in the control group were likely to recommend the article to friends or family. As we consider ways to broaden engagement with climate change, we should include games in our portfolio of approaches.

随着气候变化的影响日益加剧，我们亟需更有效的手段来提升公众认知并推动气候行动。本研究对比评估了一款北极气候变化卡牌游戏与更为传统的图文科普文章阅读方式的效果。研究设置了对照组（阅读文章组）与实验组（游戏组），共纳入41名受试者（N = 41）参与线下评估，并在四周后开展追踪调查。结果显示，在短期气候变化影响相关知识的科普教学中，该游戏与图文科普文章的效果相当；而在新信息的长期留存方面，游戏的效果显著优于文章。参与游戏的受试者不仅表现出更高的参与度，且更倾向于认为自己掌握了保护北极生态系统的可行方法。相较于对照组中向亲友推荐阅读文章的受试者，游戏参与者向亲友推荐该游戏的意愿也更为强烈。在我们探索拓展气候变化科普参与度的路径时，应将游戏纳入我们的科普方法体系之中。