Abstract
This paper presents Climate Change Engage a project devised to collaboratively develop a ‘serious gaming’ instructional pack for secondary school students and their teachers. The project integrates knowledge from the arts / design, post-primary education, sciences, engineering and social sciences and builds on prior research (McKeown et al, 2022) that evidenced the need and importance of youth-led agency and the impact of youth-focused co-design. Using an existing 5-day design sprint (McKeown et al 2022) adapted for game design, the team worked with 16 sixteen-year-olds over 5 days to support the students to develop games that addressed emerging themes from the team’s expertise and the students’ own knowledge. The paper presents an overview of the sprint process and key findings around the project’s key objectives: to maximise the potential for deep learning about climate change-related scientific and social concepts by resonating with divergent learning styles. By mobilising interdisciplinary expertise and lay knowledge in co-developing an interactive heuristic with the students and their teachers, the project sought to co-develop a climate change problem-solving and educational resource as a suite of resources for schools across the nation. The paper concludes with reflections from the team and the students’ learning process as they sought to co-develop a suite of downloadable materials to facilitate experiential learning that synergistically address Sustainable Development Goal Targets 11.2 -11.7 and 13.1-13.3 and empower students to co-produce solutions to raise awareness of climate change and adaptation for learners 15 - 17 years using game design.
Presenters
Anita McKeownDirector, SMARTlab Skelligs _ Future Focus 21c, UCD, Kerry, Ireland Rebecca White
Co-founder, Future Focus21c, Kerry, Ireland Michael Lennon
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Design Thinking, Inter, Transdisciplinary, Post-primary, Serious Games, Climate Action
