Participatory Minecraft mapping: Fostering students participation in disaster awareness

Abstract

Scholarship suggests video games are one of several innovative tools to foster students’ participation in learning. However, research indicates that teaching pedagogies employing social group-based activities are required to enhance the strength of video games for learning. This study explores how academics, teachers, students and local emergency management personnel co-designed a teaching pedagogy, involving several social group-based activities and a geo-referenced Minecraft world, to engage students in learning about disaster and disaster risk reduction within their local area. The research/ teaching approach subsequently informed three classrooms of students in creating three geo-referenced Minecraft worlds. Each class experienced a variation in teaching approach (guided, targeted, hands-off). Analysis of the outcomes of their Minecraft worlds (including game content, game mechanics, skills, motivations and social interactions) illustrate how the teaching approach influences students’ active participation in learning. Ultimately, Minecraft is not the critical component in the teaching and learning process but rather one portion of the bigger picture in fostering students engagement. This study therefore demonstrates the potential for Minecraft as a learning tool to foster student participation in learning about disasters and disaster risk reduction when connected to an appropriate teaching pedagogy and learning theory.