IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i19p8525-d1489725.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital Escape Rooms: A Resource for Environmental Education

Author

Listed:
  • Manuela Repetto

    (Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Alessandra Bianco Prevot

    (Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Adelina Brizio

    (Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Arianna Boldi

    (Department of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Melania Talarico

    (Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Silvia Stanchi

    (Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Davide Palma

    (Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

  • Daniela Acquadro Maran

    (Department of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy)

Abstract

Today’s adolescents represent an elective target in addressing environmental challenges. Education is a key factor in achieving a sustainable future for them. However, formal education can represent a challenge when youths are its target, as they are considered the “interactive generation”. Game-based learning, and, in particular, Digital Educational Escape Rooms (DERs), have emerged as innovative methods in education, with promising applications in environmental sustainability studies. In this study, we developed 14 Digital Escape Rooms using the Social Cognitive Theory of Bandura as a theoretical framework. These were focused on environmental education and we tested them on a sample of 411 students (aged 12–18 years; 158 female, 38.4%). A one-group quasi-experimental research design was adopted, carrying out a pre-test post-test analysis. Each participant completed assessments at two time points: before engaging in the escape rooms (T0) and after (T1). The assessment tools included the Goal Assessment Scale (GAS) and the Perceived Climate Self-Efficacy Scale. Our findings revealed no significant gender differences in goal achievement. However, at T0, females exhibited higher levels of perceived climate self-efficacy in both individual and collective dimensions. Instead, the Digital Escape Rooms appeared particularly effective in increasing self-efficacy among male participants. These results suggest that Digital Escape Rooms hold potential for enhancing environmental self-efficacy, although gender differences in baseline efficacy levels warrant further exploration.

Suggested Citation

  • Manuela Repetto & Alessandra Bianco Prevot & Adelina Brizio & Arianna Boldi & Melania Talarico & Silvia Stanchi & Davide Palma & Daniela Acquadro Maran, 2024. "Digital Escape Rooms: A Resource for Environmental Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-12, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:19:p:8525-:d:1489725
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/19/8525/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/19/8525/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tara J. Crandon & James G. Scott & Fiona J. Charlson & Hannah J. Thomas, 2022. "A social–ecological perspective on climate anxiety in children and adolescents," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(2), pages 123-131, February.
    2. Daniela Acquadro Maran & Tatiana Begotti, 2021. "Media Exposure to Climate Change, Anxiety, and Efficacy Beliefs in a Sample of Italian University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-11, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Susan D. Clayton & Panu Pihkala & Britt Wray & Elizabeth Marks, 2023. "Psychological and Emotional Responses to Climate Change among Young People Worldwide: Differences Associated with Gender, Age, and Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Daniela Acquadro Maran & Matti Ullah Butt & Tatiana Begotti, 2023. "Pro-Environment Behaviors, Efficacy Beliefs, Perceived Individual and Social Norms: A Questionnaire Survey in a Sample of Young Adults From Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    3. Shiri Shinan-Altman & Yaira Hamama-Raz, 2023. "The Association between Climate Change Exposure and Climate Change Worry among Israeli Adults: The Interplay of Risk Appraisal, Collective Efficacy, Age, and Gender," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-14, September.
    4. Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz & Adam Choryński & Janusz Olejnik & Hans J. Schellnhuber & Marek Urbaniak & Klaudia Ziemblińska, 2023. "Climate Change Science and Policy—A Guided Tour across the Space of Attitudes and Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Tanja Russell, 2024. "A ‘greenhouse affect’? Exploring young Australians’ emotional responses to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(5), pages 1-20, May.
    6. Karen Page Winterich & Rebecca Walker Reczek & Tamar Makov, 2024. "How lack of knowledge on emissions and psychological biases deter consumers from taking effective action to mitigate climate change," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 1475-1494, October.
    7. Ma, Tianyi & Moore, Jane & Cleary, Anne, 2022. "Climate change impacts on the mental health and wellbeing of young people: A scoping review of risk and protective factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    8. Shih-Yeh Chen & Pei-Hsuan Lin & Ying-Hsun Lai & Chia-Ju Liu, 2024. "Enhancing Education on Aurora Astronomy and Climate Science Awareness through Augmented Reality Technology and Mobile Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-16, June.
    9. Hannes Zacher & Cort W. Rudolph, 2023. "Environmental knowledge is inversely associated with climate change anxiety," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 1-9, April.
    10. Anna-Kathryn Leve & Hanno Michel & Ute Harms, 2023. "Implementing climate literacy in schools — what to teach our teachers?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(10), pages 1-17, October.
    11. Ben Mathews, 2022. "Adolescent Capacity to Consent to Participate in Research: A Review and Analysis Informed by Law, Human Rights, Ethics, and Developmental Science," Laws, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-49, December.
    12. Shannon Audley & Julia L. Ginsburg & Cami Furlong, 2024. "“We Don’t Always Have to Be Talking about It”: Moral Reasoning in US Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-22, September.
    13. Gabriela Stilita & Fiona Charlson, 2024. "Keeping Sane in a Changing Climate: Assessing Psychologists’ Preparedness, Exposure to Climate-Health Impacts, Willingness to Act on Climate Change, and Barriers to Effective Action," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-14, February.
    14. Martin, Gina & Cosma, Alina & Roswell, Tasha & Anderson, Martin & Treble, Matthew & Leslie, Kathleen & Card, Kiffer G. & Closson, Kalysha & Kennedy, Angel & Gislason, Maya, 2023. "Measuring negative emotional responses to climate change among young people in survey research: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    15. Paula Regina Humbelino de Melo & Péricles Vale Alves & Vandoir Bourscheidt & Tatiana Souza de Camargo, 2024. "Planetary Health Education: Exploring Students’ Perceptions of Climate Change in a School in Southern Amazonas," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, June.
    16. Katharina Voltmer & Maria von Salisch, 2023. "Promoting Subjective Well-Being and a Sustainable Lifestyle in Children and Youth by Strengthening Their Personal Psychological Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    17. Kunhao Yang & Mengyuan Fu, 2024. "Polarized collaboration benefits knowledge production: empirical analyses of the mediating effect of co-production pattern in Wikipedia articles on climate change," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 2677-2699, December.
    18. Alexandre Heeren & Camille Mouguiama-Daouda & Alba Contreras, 2022. "On climate anxiety and the threat it may pose to daily life functioning and adaptation: a study among European and African French-speaking participants," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 1-17, July.
    19. Catriona Soutar & Anne P. F. Wand, 2022. "Understanding the Spectrum of Anxiety Responses to Climate Change: A Systematic Review of the Qualitative Literature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-23, January.
    20. Matteo Innocenti & Gabriele Santarelli & Gaia Surya Lombardi & Lorenzo Ciabini & Doris Zjalic & Mattia Di Russo & Chiara Cadeddu, 2023. "How Can Climate Change Anxiety Induce Both Pro-Environmental Behaviours and Eco-Paralysis? The Mediating Role of General Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-10, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:19:p:8525-:d:1489725. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.