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Article

Exploring the Impact of Gamified Role-Playing on Climate Change Knowledge and Nature Relatedness: Evidence from an Online Undergraduate Course on Environmental Health

by
Miryha Gould Runnerstrom
1,*,
Kameryn Denaro
2 and
Janet DiVincenzo
2
1
School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA 98011, USA
2
Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2024, 16(11), 4484; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114484
Submission received: 30 April 2024 / Revised: 18 May 2024 / Accepted: 22 May 2024 / Published: 25 May 2024
(This article belongs to the Topic Advances in Online and Distance Learning)

Abstract

In an online environmental health course, undergraduate students worked in teams of five and were immersed in a team-based climate change case study set in the Amazon rainforest. Each student was assigned a character role—a logger, a farmer, a conservation biologist, an environmental activist, and a policymaker. We aimed to understand whether student character assignments influenced their climate change knowledge, environmental concern, and connection to nature. Regression models were generated to test for differences in the outcome variables between characters at pre- and post-test. We observed higher gains in the nature relatedness scores for students assigned the logger role. After controlling for previous climate change knowledge, first-generation college students had lower climate change knowledge at the end of the course compared to non-first-generation students, but low-income students had higher climate change knowledge at the end of the course compared to non-low-income students. Environmental concern had no change over the term; scores were high during the pre- and post-survey for all students. There may be potential to develop a connection to nature by assigning students to play specific characters. Also, despite ongoing work to support first-generation college students, there remain opportunities to develop academic support programs for these students.
Keywords: undergraduate climate change education; environmental health curriculum; gamification; role-playing; team-based learning; case-based learning; problem-based learning; online course undergraduate climate change education; environmental health curriculum; gamification; role-playing; team-based learning; case-based learning; problem-based learning; online course

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MDPI and ACS Style

Runnerstrom, M.G.; Denaro, K.; DiVincenzo, J. Exploring the Impact of Gamified Role-Playing on Climate Change Knowledge and Nature Relatedness: Evidence from an Online Undergraduate Course on Environmental Health. Sustainability 2024, 16, 4484. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114484

AMA Style

Runnerstrom MG, Denaro K, DiVincenzo J. Exploring the Impact of Gamified Role-Playing on Climate Change Knowledge and Nature Relatedness: Evidence from an Online Undergraduate Course on Environmental Health. Sustainability. 2024; 16(11):4484. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114484

Chicago/Turabian Style

Runnerstrom, Miryha Gould, Kameryn Denaro, and Janet DiVincenzo. 2024. "Exploring the Impact of Gamified Role-Playing on Climate Change Knowledge and Nature Relatedness: Evidence from an Online Undergraduate Course on Environmental Health" Sustainability 16, no. 11: 4484. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114484

APA Style

Runnerstrom, M. G., Denaro, K., & DiVincenzo, J. (2024). Exploring the Impact of Gamified Role-Playing on Climate Change Knowledge and Nature Relatedness: Evidence from an Online Undergraduate Course on Environmental Health. Sustainability, 16(11), 4484. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114484

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