Abstract:
Finding proper ways to address learning about sustainability is a relevant issue. Sustainability learning has to face some inherent complexities, due to two main factors:...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
Finding proper ways to address learning about sustainability is a relevant issue. Sustainability learning has to face some inherent complexities, due to two main factors: the interdisciplinary domains related to sustainability issues, such as ecology, economics, politics, and culture, and the involvement of several social structures, such as individuals, families, and communities. One recent research proposal is to exploit serious games to foster learning in this area. This resulted in a significant increase in the number of approaches discussed in the literature over the last few years. Notwithstanding this growing scenario, sustainability serious games still lack a reasoned evaluation, in order to clarify their possible applications and to define effective design strategies to approach them. To this end, in this paper, we investigate the current state of the art of serious games for sustainability, identifying, and discussing the most common applications. The research process included both scientific publications and unpublished materials. References were searched according to guiding questions, which helped focus the extraction of information, and through recursive browsing of their citations. Based on the research results, we propose a taxonomy for sustainability serious games and a classification of reviewed works according to this taxonomy. We also analyze design strategies, drawn from the literature, expressly conceived for the development of effective sustainability serious games. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and present possible areas of research in this field.
Published in: IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies ( Volume: 12, Issue: 3, 01 July-Sept. 2019)
Funding Agency:

the Computer Graphics and Vision Group, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
Alysson Diniz dos Santos received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in computer science from Universidade Federal da Paraiba, João Pessoa, Brazil. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree with Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy. He is currently a Professor with Universidade Federal do Ceara, Fortaleza, Brazil. His research interests include educational games, collaborative learning, and human–computer interaction.
Alysson Diniz dos Santos received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in computer science from Universidade Federal da Paraiba, João Pessoa, Brazil. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree with Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy. He is currently a Professor with Universidade Federal do Ceara, Fortaleza, Brazil. His research interests include educational games, collaborative learning, and human–computer interaction.View more

the Computer Graphics and Vision Group, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
Francesco Strada received the M.Sc. degree in digital media from Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy. He is currently a Research Assistant with Computer Graphics and Vision Research Group, Politecnico di Torino. His research is focused on virtual and augmented reality, human–computer interfaces, and serious games.
Francesco Strada received the M.Sc. degree in digital media from Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy. He is currently a Research Assistant with Computer Graphics and Vision Research Group, Politecnico di Torino. His research is focused on virtual and augmented reality, human–computer interfaces, and serious games.View more

the Computer Graphics and Vision Group, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
Andrea Bottino is currently a Professor of computer science with Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy and the Head of the Computer Graphics and Vision Research Group, Politecnico di Torino. He is the author of several journal and conference papers. His current research interests include computer vision, machine learning, human–computer interaction, computer graphics, virtual and a...Show More
Andrea Bottino is currently a Professor of computer science with Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy and the Head of the Computer Graphics and Vision Research Group, Politecnico di Torino. He is the author of several journal and conference papers. His current research interests include computer vision, machine learning, human–computer interaction, computer graphics, virtual and a...View more

the Computer Graphics and Vision Group, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
Alysson Diniz dos Santos received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in computer science from Universidade Federal da Paraiba, João Pessoa, Brazil. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree with Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy. He is currently a Professor with Universidade Federal do Ceara, Fortaleza, Brazil. His research interests include educational games, collaborative learning, and human–computer interaction.
Alysson Diniz dos Santos received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in computer science from Universidade Federal da Paraiba, João Pessoa, Brazil. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree with Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy. He is currently a Professor with Universidade Federal do Ceara, Fortaleza, Brazil. His research interests include educational games, collaborative learning, and human–computer interaction.View more

the Computer Graphics and Vision Group, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
Francesco Strada received the M.Sc. degree in digital media from Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy. He is currently a Research Assistant with Computer Graphics and Vision Research Group, Politecnico di Torino. His research is focused on virtual and augmented reality, human–computer interfaces, and serious games.
Francesco Strada received the M.Sc. degree in digital media from Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy. He is currently a Research Assistant with Computer Graphics and Vision Research Group, Politecnico di Torino. His research is focused on virtual and augmented reality, human–computer interfaces, and serious games.View more

the Computer Graphics and Vision Group, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
Andrea Bottino is currently a Professor of computer science with Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy and the Head of the Computer Graphics and Vision Research Group, Politecnico di Torino. He is the author of several journal and conference papers. His current research interests include computer vision, machine learning, human–computer interaction, computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality, and virtual heritage.
Andrea Bottino is currently a Professor of computer science with Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy and the Head of the Computer Graphics and Vision Research Group, Politecnico di Torino. He is the author of several journal and conference papers. His current research interests include computer vision, machine learning, human–computer interaction, computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality, and virtual heritage.View more