Applying Game-Based Experiential Learning to Comprehensive Sustainable Development-Based Education

Abstract

To promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), public awareness of the importance and urgency of sustainable development should be raised by providing relevant education programs. Although game-based learning has been confirmed to be one of the most effective routes to deepen public understanding of the SDGs and sustainable development in general, games for comprehensive sustainable development-based courses have yet to be popularized. Thus, we developed a game-based learning approach that delivers comprehensive conceptual information on SDGs. Based on Kolb’s theory of experiential learning, students understood the relevance of the SDGs by playing a board game designed to simulate the real world, including national and international policies. Furthermore, considering the suspension of in-person learning and shifts to digital instruction caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a digital version of the board game was created to compare the effects of digital and non-digital game-based learning. A comprehensive sustainable development evaluation questionnaire was developed and optimized using the fuzzy Delphi method to assess the participants’ knowledge of and attitudes toward the SDGs. Our results reveal that the digital and non-digital board game both improve students’ knowledge and attitude toward sustainable development. However, the digital board game was more effective than the non-digital board game.