Litoralia: a digital game for the teaching-learning of Biodiversity and Environmental Education in a coastal ecosystem

Um Jogo Digital para o Ensino-Aprendizagem de Biodiversidade e Educação Ambiental em um Ecossistema Litorâneo

Abstract

The world suffers from a severe ecological crisis caused mostly by the human influence on the ecosystems. As guardian of the largest biodiversity of the Earth, Brazil plays an essential role on the recovery and transformation of the recent environmental status. However, the teaching of Biodiversity in basic education has faced obstacles, which hampers the development of an environmental thinking by the students. Looking for a solution on Game-Based Learning, this paper aims to theorize and describe the development and functioning of an intermediate prototype of “Litoralia”, a game for the learning of Biodiversity and Environmental Education of coastal environments. The research method was Design Science Research, which addresses the creation of artifacts by an iterative cycle to solve practical problems. Thereby, the game design was made, and three initial prototypes were implemented in the game engine Unity. The validation phases demonstrate that both the dialogue and photography mechanics have the potential to be effective on the engagement of the students and hence in the teaching-learning process of Biodiversity and Environmental Education.