Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Background: Household activities are responsible for up to 80% of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. These greenhouse gas emissions come from activities including actions taken in relation to food, energy, and water (FEW) resource consumption. Therefore, actions taken at a household level have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A game-based learning approach can be used to educate youth on what actions they can take around their household to reduce their carbon footprint. <br/>Aim: FEWS for change is a first player role-playing game developed to educate high school students on how their actions impact the FEW resources and carbon emissions. The game also aims to measure how player’s beliefs and worldview effect their game play regarding sustainability and the environment. <br/>Methods: We developed the FEWS (Food, Energy, and Water Systems) for Change role-playing game based on transdisciplinary research of the food, energy, and water nexus, social, economic, and environmental factors. We piloted the game with a few students for initial results and will have a high school classroom pilot the game in mid-May.<br/>Preliminary Results: Results from the 4 participants demonstrated achievement of the learning goal of the pilot testing. This is objective was met by measuring the players improvement on the postsurvey compared to the presurvey. Due to limitations of time and virtual facilitation of this game, the other two learning objectives could not be measured in this initial pilot because not all post-game activities were included which are needed to measure the other learning objectives. When the game is piloted in mid-May, the other two learning objectives will be tested and measured.
