Integration of Environmental Sustainability Issues into the “Game Design Theory and Practice” Design Course

Hsiu Ching Laura Hsieh

doi:10.3390/su12166334

Abstract

International and Taiwanese research has suggested that education for sustainable development (ESD) requires interdisciplinary research and teaching. There is a lack of sustainable art and design courses in the field of humanities. We have learned that design students have neither a concern for the surrounding environment nor the ability to resolve social issues when teaching design. This study is intended to integrate sustainable development issues into design courses and apply design to resolve issues so that students can develop the ability to think creatively and solve environmental sustainability issues. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of integrating sustainable development issues into “Game Design Theory and Practice” design course and to construct a model of “design course on environmental sustainability.” This study applied the action research method and incorporated the PBL (problem-based learning) and ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation) modes. Ultimately, based on the results of course planning and implementation, we proposed the model of “design course on environmental sustainability,” with priorities given to: (1) The introduction of environmental sustainability issues; (2) the introduction of design methods by teachers; (3) the promotion of students’ participation in design thinking and discussion; (4) students’ adjustments to the design according to players’ feedback; and (5) interaction and communication between different characters. The results demonstrated that the integration of sustainable development issues into the planning and implementation of the “Game Design Theory and Practice” design course had positive effects. Game design could be used as a method and tool to encourage students and players to assume sustainable citizenship and to generate a concern for sustainable development in interesting game contexts. These findings can contribute to the future development of design education at colleges and universities.

Highlights

UNESCO [1] has defined education for sustainable development (ESD) as a type of education for social transformation that aims to create a more sustainable society
Through the implementation of the “Game Design Theory and Practice” design course, this study aims to solve various problems in daily life and guide students to understand and confront environmental sustainability issues together
The mean for Question 1 is 4.57, for Question 2, 4.67, and for Question 9, 4.62. It revealed that the students using environmental sustainability issues for design could better reflect their concern for environmental issues in Taiwan and worldwide. It revealed that integration of environmental sustainability issues into the “Game Design Theory and Practice” design course can inspire university students to understand environmental issues and care for the environment

Summary

Introduction

UNESCO [1] has defined education for sustainable development (ESD) as a type of education for social transformation that aims to create a more sustainable society. Taiwanese researcher Wang [5] indicated that most universities stress scientific implementation in Taiwan’s ESD, such as climate, architecture, and traffic engineering, and that there is a general lack of sustainable courses in history, culture, and art and design in the field of humanities. Such courses are related to environmental ethics and moral education and can facilitate students to develop sustainable values, but they have always been unavailable in universities. This gave students a sense of accomplishment, and made players realize that Taiwan’s environment and diverse ecological issues are important

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion