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Experimental Research: Simulations and Serious Games for Sustainability

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Gaming, Simulation and Innovations: Challenges and Opportunities (ISAGA 2021)

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Abstract

A review of experimental studies accounts for the effectiveness of simulation-based learning in generating behavior and other variables towards sustainability. A set of 35 studies from 1997–2019 was derived from the bibliometric database on simulations and serious games (SSG) featuring education for sustainable development (ESD). Key findings highlighted the effects of SSG on sustainable variables. The SSG featured in experiments focused on either multiple or single dimensions of sustainability and appeared in academic, household and workplace settings. The experiments are overweighed with quasi-experimental designs, indicating the challenges to achieve random assignments. The majority of the simulation gaming interventions showed significant effects on knowledge, attitude and behavior towards sustainability. Interpreting the effects requires clear evidence, particularly when effect size indicators were likely to be ignored or skipped. Future researchers must use appropriate analytical tools and justify key results to achieve statistically significant effects of SSG on outcome variables.

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Acknowledgement

The study was supported by the ASEAN Center for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue, College of Management, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Management, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Uyen-Phuong Nguyen & Philip Hallinger

  2. Department of Educational Leadership and Management, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Philip Hallinger

Authors
  1. Uyen-Phuong Nguyen
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  2. Philip Hallinger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Uyen-Phuong Nguyen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Shri Vaishnav Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

    Upinder Dhar

  2. Shri Vaishnav Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, India

    Jigyasu Dubey

  3. Mantis, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Vinod Dumblekar

  4. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Stockholms Län, Sweden

    Sebastiaan Meijer

  5. University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Heide Lukosch

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Nguyen, UP., Hallinger, P. (2022). Experimental Research: Simulations and Serious Games for Sustainability. In: Dhar, U., Dubey, J., Dumblekar, V., Meijer, S., Lukosch, H. (eds) Gaming, Simulation and Innovations: Challenges and Opportunities. ISAGA 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13219. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09959-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09959-5_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-09958-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-09959-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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