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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

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.

ContributorsFielding, Raven (Author) / Agusdinata, Datu Buyung (Thesis director) / Lukosch, Heide (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor, Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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The consumption of food, energy, and water (FEW) resources in U.S. households is very carbon-intensive. However, these negative climate change impacts are often invisible due to insufficient awareness and knowledge. Serious games (SGs) can potentially address this issue through an experiential and rigorous approach to simulate household actions and impacts

The consumption of food, energy, and water (FEW) resources in U.S. households is very carbon-intensive. However, these negative climate change impacts are often invisible due to insufficient awareness and knowledge. Serious games (SGs) can potentially address this issue through an experiential and rigorous approach to simulate household actions and impacts in a playful but realistic setting. This dissertation focuses on: (a) the design and testing of an SG called HomeRUN (Role-play for Understanding Nexus); (b) the effectiveness of gameplay in advancing player knowledge about the upfront costs, financial returns, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of various household decisions; and (c) the effectiveness of intervention messages in increasing FEW conservation to reduce household GHG emissions. The results of gameplay sessions played by 150 university students show that HomeRUN is fun to play, creates a flow experience, and results in experiential learning. The majority of players agreed that the game experience will continue over time to influence their future consumption behaviors to conserve FEW resources. Female players tended to gain more knowledge about financial aspects of interventions, whereas male players were more likely to increase their understandings of GHG emissions and resource consumption after playing HomeRUN. Social comparison intervention messages about energy and food consumption led to the highest reductions in household carbon emissions. The messages associated with each FEW resource tended to be most likely to lead to FEW conservation actions with the game that most closely corresponded to the particular FEW resource addressed in the message. This dissertation advances understandings about the design and use of SGs to foster learning and promote sustainable household FEW consumption.
ContributorsHanif, Muhammad Adnan (Author) / Agusdinata, Datu Buyung (Thesis advisor) / Halvorsen, Kathleen (Committee member) / Janssen, Marco (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021