Impact of gameplay vs. reading on mental models of social-ecological systems: a fuzzy cognitive mapping approach

Abstract

Climate change is a highly complex social-ecological problem characterized by system-type dynamics that are important to communicate in a variety of settings, ranging from formal education to decision makers to informal education of the general public. Educational games are one approach that may enhance systems thinking skills. This study used a randomized controlled experiment to compare the impact on the mental models of participants of an educational card game vs. an illustrated article about the Arctic social-ecological system. A total of 41 participants (game: n = 20; reading: n = 21) created pre-and post-intervention mental models of the system, based on a "fuzzy cognitive mapping" approach. Maps were analyzed using network statistics. Both reading the article and playing the game resulted in measurable increases in systems understanding. The group reading the article perceived a more complex system after the intervention, with overall learning gains approximately twice those of the game players. However, game players demonstrated similar learning gains as article readers regarding the climate system, actions both causing environmental problems and protecting the Arctic, as well as the importance of the base-and mid-levels of the food chain. These findings contribute to the growing evidence showing that games are important resources to include as strategies for building capacity to understand and steward sustainable social-ecological systems, in both formal and informal education.

The Impact of Educational Games on Learning Outcomes

“…To identify influential studies, we conducted a sensitivity analysis. The results showed that the studies by Alcalá & Garijo (2017), Haruna et al (2018), andO'Garra et al (2021) were the most influential among the extracted studies.…”

“…We also conducted a sensitivity analysis to identify influential studies. The results showed that the study by O'Garra et al (2021) significantly decreased the overall effects of serious games on motivation, while the studies by Chang et al (2018) and Pimentel et al (2021) significantly increased the overall effects. This indicates relatively unstable effects of serious games on motivation.…”

“…On the other hand, other studies (Abbasi et al, 2021;Bayley & Brown, 2015;Chang et al, 2018;C.-H. Chen & Yeh, 2019;Gamito et al, 2014;Giannakos et al, 2015;Haruna et al, 2018;H.-T. Hung et al, 2018;Lee et al, 2020;Leiker et al, 2016;Li et al, 2017;Lin et al, 2021;Magen-Nagar et al, 2019;Molina-Torres et al, 2021;O'Garra et al, 2021;Pan et al, 2019;Pimentel et al, 2021;Sánchez et al, 2020) include concepts related to motivation that necessitate further determination of their subtypes.…”

The Application of Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping in Education: Trend and Potential

“…Three publications (D1, D37, and D46) reported using FCM to explain or model domain knowledge. O'Garra et al [42] in D46 involved the general public in building their mental maps on social-ecological systems and comparing them before and after the gameplay intervention. Gaibova [43] in D37 involved data science and analytics experts to form a data analyst's competency model or fuzzy cognitive map.…”

“…The most used FCM software tool is FCMapper (http://www.fcmappers.net/joomla/). Bagány and Takács [54] in D27 is the earliest reviewed publication that utilized FCMapper, followed by Córdova et al [55] in D39, Infante-Moro et al [56] in D44, and O'Garra et al [42] in D46. The two most recent publications, Infante-Moro et al [41] in D49 and Bermeo-Córdova et al [29] in D51 also utilized FCMapper.…”