Acceptance Evaluation of a Serious Game to Address Gender Stereotypes in Mexico

Abstract

Serious Games provide an opportunity to address social issues in an interactive environment particularly appealing for school-aged children. Gender stereotypes are one of the many remaining gender-related issues in current society. Stereotypes appear at early ages and are particularly prevalent in certain cultures and countries. This paper presents an early acceptance evaluation of Kiddo, a serious game to address gender stereotypes in Mexico. The game has been designed to address four of the main stereotypes still present in children in this country, and it is intended to be used in classes by teachers to start a discussion about gender stereotypes. The evaluation has been carried out with a prototype of the game containing one of the game chapters and a sample including teachers and gender experts. The goal is to verify both the usability of the game as well as its acceptance for some of the target users that will later apply the game in their classes. Results of both usability and acceptance questionnaires have provided a useful insight into the strengths and areas of improvement for the game, and they are being incorporated into the new version of Kiddo.