Abstract
We designed and pilot tested “You and CO2”, a program designed to encourage students to reflect on their personal impact on the environment, while also appreciating their place within society to bring about positive societal change. Over three interlinked workshops, students analysed the carbon footprints of some everyday activities, which they then explored in more detail through interacting with a bespoke piece of interactive digital narrative (IDN), No World 4 Tomorrow. Previous papers have discussed the feasibility of the program and student engagement with the concepts. This paper presents analysis of the playthrough data as each participant in the program played the IDN to completion, examining trends in story selection choices for how they reflect students’ understandings and attitudes towards climate change and their own ability to make a difference in matters large and small pertaining to climate change.
Highlights
The United Nations identifies catastrophic climate change as the defining issue of our time, requiring urgent and drastic change (United Nations 2016)
YCO2 is an interdisciplinary project, using combined arts and science workshops in British secondary schools to encourage students to reflect on both their own personal contributions to climate change, and to consider how they can engage with the wider societal systems that drive climate change
This age group was selected for several reasons: 1) our existing network of teachers and schools that could participate in the project were secondary schools; 2) this is a key age in which children are Playing for Change learning to make their own decisions and influence family culture, and they are shaping their ideas of the world and their place within it, 3) adolescents are more likely to be affected by climate change than most adults (Lutz 2001; Cornelius et al, 2014; van Borries et al, 2020)
Summary
The United Nations identifies catastrophic climate change as the defining issue of our time, requiring urgent and drastic change (United Nations 2016). The workshops encompass an innovative combination of interactive chemistry lessons, reading, and discussion of interactive digital narratives (IDNs) for themes of climate change and personal choice, and student construction of their own IDNs on themes of climate change and personal responsibility This learning intervention is a multiliteracies approach (Cope and Kalantzis 2009; Skains 2019b) to teach the science of climate change through digital literacy, interactivity, creative writing, game design, discussion, and group and individual work. We added a “faction” of the community working counter to this goal, whose inappropriate use of resources enables the reader/player to make choices about individual actions, and society’s actions; this narrative parallels real-world options about individual carbon footprints, as well as the path of activism that aims to affect wider society’s actions regarding climate change
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
