IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i6p2461-d1357889.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Empathy, Education, and Awareness: A VR Hackathon’s Approach to Tackling Climate Change

Author

Listed:
  • Noor AlQallaf

    (James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK)

  • Dalia W. Elnagar

    (Department of Computer Science & Engineering, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt)

  • Sherif G. Aly

    (Department of Computer Science & Engineering, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt)

  • Khalil I. Elkhodary

    (Department of Computer Science & Engineering, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt)

  • Rami Ghannam

    (James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK)

Abstract

Climate change education is crucial for fostering informed and engaged future generations. However, traditional pedagogies often fail to engage learners fully and provide real-world, experiential learning. This paper presents a novel approach to climate change education through a three-day virtual reality (VR) hackathon. The hackathon focused on four United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—Quality Education, Affordable and Clean Energy, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Climate Action. Using VR technology and game design software, engineering students worked in teams. They competed against each other in designing immersive environments that demonstrated their understanding of these SDGs and climate change. Our goal was to encourage the development of empathy, education, and awareness around these critical global issues. The hackathon also integrated authentic assessments, mirroring real-world engineering tasks and providing a more practical and relevant learning experience. Our findings suggest that this VR hackathon has significantly enhanced students’ understanding of the SDGs and climate change issues, their competency with VR technologies, as well as their teamwork and problem-solving skills. This paper discusses the hackathon’s design, implementation, and outcomes, highlighting the potential of such innovative approaches in tackling climate change education and awareness.

Suggested Citation

  • Noor AlQallaf & Dalia W. Elnagar & Sherif G. Aly & Khalil I. Elkhodary & Rami Ghannam, 2024. "Empathy, Education, and Awareness: A VR Hackathon’s Approach to Tackling Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2461-:d:1357889
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2461/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2461/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mahmoud Abou Kamar & Nadir Aliane & Islam Elbestawi & Mohamed Fathy Agina & Omar Alsetoohy, 2023. "Are Coastal Hotels Ready for Climate Change? The Case of Alexandria, Egypt," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Anna C. M. Queiroz & Géraldine Fauville & Adina T. Abeles & Aaron Levett & Jeremy N. Bailenson, 2023. "The Efficacy of Virtual Reality in Climate Change Education Increases with Amount of Body Movement and Message Specificity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-24, March.
    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. Mira Hajj-Hassan & Rawad Chaker & Anne-Marie Cederqvist, 2024. "Environmental Education: A Systematic Review on the Use of Digital Tools for Fostering Sustainability Awareness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-24, April.

    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:6:p:2461-:d:1357889. 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.