EnerCities is a serious game developed to raise awareness of sustainability and energy conservation among secondary school students. Preliminary results show:
1) Playing of energy-related games is uncommon among students, with reported usage rates below 5%.
2) Students who played EnerCities showed increased awareness of energy issues and more positive attitudes towards energy-saving behaviors.
3) Students generally found EnerCities to be fun and appropriately challenging. The game was successful in engaging students on topics of sustainability and energy conservation in an enjoyable manner.
Energy and the Sustainable Development AgendaGlobal Utmaning
A presentation held by mr Måns Nilsson, head of research at Stockholm Environment Institute at the Post Rio+20 seminar at Rosenbad on September 3, 2012.
Renewable and low carbon energy capacity study for the East of Englandcrifcambs
Richard Summers from The Landscape Partnership and Andrew Turton from AECOM shared their findings from work commissioned by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to identify the potential for renewable energy in the East of England. This study highlighted the renewable energy resources for Cambridgeshire.
Presented to Councillors on 28 September 2011.
Energy and the Sustainable Development AgendaGlobal Utmaning
A presentation held by mr Måns Nilsson, head of research at Stockholm Environment Institute at the Post Rio+20 seminar at Rosenbad on September 3, 2012.
Renewable and low carbon energy capacity study for the East of Englandcrifcambs
Richard Summers from The Landscape Partnership and Andrew Turton from AECOM shared their findings from work commissioned by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to identify the potential for renewable energy in the East of England. This study highlighted the renewable energy resources for Cambridgeshire.
Presented to Councillors on 28 September 2011.
Jari Niemelä's presentation at the Metso and WWF's Bioenergy seminar in Helsinki on May 15, 2012
The first couple of slides are in Finnish, the rest is in English.
Register for the international thermochemical biomass conference...
"tcbiomass2009"
September 16-18, 2009
Chicago, Illinois, USA
http://www.gastechnology.org/tcbiomass2009
Author(s): Aristidis Protopsaltis, sonia Hetzner, Dimitra Pappa, Lucia Pannese.
Serious Games and Formal and Informal Learning
The experience garnered from the eVITA project is used to explore the relation between Serious Games (SGs) and formal and informal learning.
ConnectLearning – an answer for the new challenges?eLearning Papers
Authors: Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Anne Steinert
The latest reports seem to announce a new world of learning, in which students are connected through technology and internet. The increasing influence of the world wide web has led to fast-paced knowledge cycles and to New Millennium Learners, who are supposed to have different learning styles.
This publication has been originally published in paper. It's a collection of five selected articles published during 2008/09 in the digital eLearning Papers.
Jari Niemelä's presentation at the Metso and WWF's Bioenergy seminar in Helsinki on May 15, 2012
The first couple of slides are in Finnish, the rest is in English.
Register for the international thermochemical biomass conference...
"tcbiomass2009"
September 16-18, 2009
Chicago, Illinois, USA
http://www.gastechnology.org/tcbiomass2009
Author(s): Aristidis Protopsaltis, sonia Hetzner, Dimitra Pappa, Lucia Pannese.
Serious Games and Formal and Informal Learning
The experience garnered from the eVITA project is used to explore the relation between Serious Games (SGs) and formal and informal learning.
ConnectLearning – an answer for the new challenges?eLearning Papers
Authors: Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Anne Steinert
The latest reports seem to announce a new world of learning, in which students are connected through technology and internet. The increasing influence of the world wide web has led to fast-paced knowledge cycles and to New Millennium Learners, who are supposed to have different learning styles.
This publication has been originally published in paper. It's a collection of five selected articles published during 2008/09 in the digital eLearning Papers.
These cartoons were created for Kristin Arnold's book "Team Energizers" which lists a variety of facilitation exercises for businesses to do in their education of employees. The cartoons help make it clear.
The mammoth energy requirements of India coupled with the strong push being provided by the government to renewable sources of energy makes this sector a lucrative business prospect. This presentation details the overview of the renewable energy sector in India as well as Gujarat and highlights the business opportunities available within the sector.
To make those first impressions with new hires count, LinkedIn has collected their favorite icebreakers to use during new hire orientation. Use these energizers to avoid a yawn-filled crowd.
Want more? Download the full Onboarding in a Box: http://bit.ly/1hjPoZG
Phillipa Watson “Getting Bill-Smart: Outcomes of an energy efficiency project for low income householders in Tasmania.” Energy Cultures Conference 2016
Study about Germany’s efforts to implement the energy transition is summarized in the book “Energy Transition in Nutshell: 8 Q & A on the German Energy Transition and Its Relevance for Indonesia”
ADOPTING MEASURES TO REDUCE POWER OUTAGESelelijjournal
This work investigates and evaluates the electric energy interruptions to the residential sector resulting
from severe power outages. The study results show that this sector will suffer tangible and intangible losses
should these outages occur during specific times, seasons, and for prolonged durations. To reduce these
power outages and hence mitigate their adverse consequences, the study proposes practical measures that
can be adopted without compromising the consumers’ needs, satisfaction ,and convenience.
Presentation on "energy literacy" of private consumers.
Paper abstract: with the residential sector accounting for some one-fifth of global energy consumption -- resulting from the requirements to heat, cool, and light residential dwellings -- energy efficiency in private dwellings has again gained interest in recent years. In this paper, we examine the importance of awareness and behavior of households with respect to their residential energy use. Using a detailed survey across 1,721 households, we measure the extent to which consumers are aware of their energy consumption and whether they have taken measures to reduce their energy bill. Our results show that “energy literacy” among respondents is low: just 56 percent of the respondents are aware of their monthly charges for energy consumption, and 60 percent appropriately evaluate investment decisions in energy efficient equipment. We document that energy literacy, consumer ideology and attitude towards energy conservation have a direct effect on behavior regarding heating and cooling of the home. The impact of the moderating factor, measured by thermostat settings, ultimately results in strong variation in the energy consumption of private consumers.
OERC Seminar 2018
Prof Ulrich Nissen
Professor of “Energy Management” & “Management Accounting”, Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences,
Moechengladbach, Germany
Assoc. Prof Ivan Diaz-Rainey
Co-Director of OERC & Assoc. Prof in Finance,
University of Otago
The energy efficiency gap describes the failure to implement energy efficiency measures that deliver financially profitable cost savings (have a positive Net Present Value). In this seminar, we explore how the energy efficiency gap might be bridged in the context of universities and emerging international standards (for energy management systems, energy performance indicator systems, and for the valuation of energy related investments).
Use of distributed electricity generation systems is currently increasing due to their economic and environmental benefits. Agricultural greenhouses require heat and electricity for covering their energy needs while their annual energy requirements vary significantly. Aim of the current work is the investigation of applying various distributed electricity generation systems in greenhouses. A review of different distributed generation systems currently used in various sectors as well as in greenhouses has been implemented. Various technologies are examined utilizing either renewable energies or fossil fuels in very efficient energy systems. Most of them are mature and cost-effective having lower environmental impacts compared with traditional centralized electricity generation technologies. Their use in greenhouses results in many benefits including the creation of an additional income for the farmer, reduction of carbon emissions into the atmosphere and increasing stability of the electric grid. It is suggested that distributed electricity generation systems should be used more in greenhouses when the necessary conditions are favorable.
Effect of Environmental Awareness on Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energyinventionjournals
While world population is increasing and consumption is depleting resources rapidly, it has caused environmental disruption, air pollution and climate change. Scientists and environmentalists try to change energy resources as renewable and nature friendly when they produce ideas about climate change and environmental issues. Although production from renewable energy resources are defined as sustainable and nature friendly by comparison with fossil energy resources, change would have costs. Costs will response to consumers naturally even though investors and governments defray. Consumer adaptation process to the renewable energy market which is formed by the changing production resources should be managed efficiently. In this paper, an empirical study has been done on the measure effect of consumers’ attitude towards environment on willingness to pay for electricity that produces by renewable energy resources. Also, effect of financial capability of consumers on willingness to pay is evaluated. Descriptive analysis on responsibility of increasing renewable energy production and fighting against climate change and global warming; perceived environmental and climate change impact of the energy resources; perceived investment and production costs of the different energy resources are aimed to conclude.
Building Energy Efficiency Into Energy EquationIJERDJOURNAL
ABSTRACT: The increasing demand of energy in the world has causes the pollution and devastation of environment and also depletion of the resources. It imminent that cannot be avoided, however, There is agitation and confrontation from country to country which later realised that only energy efficiency practices is the means of minimizing the impact to the environment, but developing countries like Nigeria centered only on end users.These studies see how energy efficiency will be built into energy generation processes and the benefit to the environment, economic growth and development of a country.
Similar to EnerCities, a Serious Game to Stimulate Sustainability and Energy Conservation: Preliminary Results (20)
OER in the Mobile Era: Content Repositories’ Features for Mobile Devices and ...eLearning Papers
Learning objects and open contents have been named in the Horizon reports from 2004 and 2010 respectively, predicting to have an impact in the short term due to the current trend of offering open content for free on the Web. OER repositories should adapt their features so their contents can be accessed from mobile devices. This paper summarizes recent trends in the creation, publication, discovery, acquisition, access, use and re-use of learning objects on mobile devices based on a literature review on research done from 2007 to 2012. From the content providers side, we present the results obtained from a survey performed on 23 educational repository owners prompting them to answer about their current and expected support on mobile devices. From the content user side, we identify features provided by the main OER repositories. Finally, we introduce future trends and our next contributions.
Designing and Developing Mobile Learning Applications in International Studen...eLearning Papers
This paper reports on an international collaboration in which students from different universities designed and developed mobile learning applications, working together in interdisciplinary teams using social and mobile media. We describe the concept, process and outcomes of this collaboration including challenges of designing and developing mobile learning applications in virtual teams.
This paper reports on the current challenges the professional sector faces when going mobile. The report discusses the role of mobile devices in the workforce and addresses challenges like compatibility, security and training. It also provides a comprehensive review of the mobile landscape, and reviews current best practices in mobile learning.
Standing at the Crossroads: Mobile Learning and Cloud Computing at Estonian S...eLearning Papers
This paper studies the impact of mobile learning implementation efforts in Estonian school system – a process that has created a lot of controversy during the recent years. Best practices in mobile learning are available from the entire world, forcing schools to keep up the push towards better connectivity and gadgetry. Even in the best cases where the schools are provided with the necessary tools, the process has met a lot of scepticism from teachers who are afraid to implement new methods. Teachers are often cornered with the ‘comply or leave’ attitude from educational authorities, resulting in a multi-sided battle between involved parties.
We have surveyed students, teachers, parents and management at five Estonian front-runner schools to sort out the situation. The results show different attitudes among students, school leaders and staff – while all of them mostly possess necessary tools and skills, teachers almost completely lack motivation to promote mobile learning. We propose some positive and negative scenarios – for example, we predict major problems if teacher training will not change, e-safety policies are inadequately developed or authorities will continue the tendency to put all the eggs into one basket (e.g. by relying solely on closed, corporate solutions for mobile learning platforms).
M-portfolios: Using Mobile Technology to Document Learning in Student Teacher...eLearning Papers
We briefly analyse the enhancement of eportfolio processes defined by Zubizarreta (2009) with the introduction of mobile technology. We give some examples of appropriation of mobile device usage in eportfolio processes carried out by student teachers. These examples become the evidence of the enhancement possibilities of one of the portfolio processes defined by Zubizarreta (2009), that of documentation.
GGULIVRR: Touching Mobile and Contextual LearningeLearning Papers
The quest of today’s learning communities is to creatively uptake and embed the emerging technologies to maintain the pace of change, of learning content and platforms, while satisfying learners’ needs and coping with limited resources. As information is delivered abundantly and change is constant, education focuses on driving 21st century fluency.
Project GGULIVRR, Generic Game for Ubiquitous Learning in Interactive Virtual and Real Realities, initiates the study of ubiquitous learning, investigating mobile and contextual learning, challenging small devices with sophisticated computing and networking capacities, testing the pervasive internet and exploring intelligent tags.
The goal of project GGULIVRR is to present learning communities a framework enabling learners to practice and enhance 21st century skills while generating and playing mobile contextual games.
Project GGULIVRR entices learners to get in touch. To play the contextual game one needs to physically go to a ‘touchable’ location, where real objects are tagged with an intelligent tag. By touching a tag one gets in touch with the contextual content. Through playing and developing GGULIVRR games one meets other gamers and developers as the project format induces interdisciplinarity, inter-social and intercultural communication and collaboration empowering local people to unlock contextual content with a minimal technical threshold.
Reaching Out with OER: The New Role of Public-Facing Open ScholareLearning Papers
Open educational resources (OER) and, more recently, open educational practices (OEP) have been widely promoted as a means of increasing openness in higher education (HE). Thus far, such openness has been limited by OER provision typically being supplier-driven and contained within the boundaries of HE. Seeking to explore ways in which OEP might become more needs-led we conceptualised a new ‘public-facing open scholar’ role involving academics working with online communities to source and develop OER to meet their needs.
To explore the scope for this role we focused on the voluntary sector, which we felt might particularly benefit from such collaboration. We evaluated four representative communities for evidence of their being self-educating (thereby offering the potential for academics to contribute) and for any existing learning dimension. We found that all four communities were self-educating and each included learning infrastructure elements, for example provision for web chats with ‘experts’, together with evidence of receptiveness to academic collaboration. This indicated that there was scope for the role of public-facing open scholar. We therefore developed detailed guidelines for performing the role, which has the potential to be applied beyond the voluntary sector and to greatly extend the beneficial impact of existing OER, prompting institutions to release new OER in response to the needs of people outside HE.
Managing Training Concepts in Multicultural Business EnvironmentseLearning Papers
Companies that need training and development services increasingly often operate in a context that consists of more than just one country, language and culture. While business operations are becoming international, companies expect their service providers being capable of catering them where needed. Succeeding in a very complex multinational customer-tailored training project takes more than a good concept. The concept must be flexible so that when language and cultural changes vary from country to country they do not endanger the content to be delivered. There can be several localised versions of the training concept under simultaneous delivery. Challenge is how to manage the concept.
Reflective Learning at Work – MIRROR Model, Apps and Serious GameseLearning Papers
This report discusses the initial results of a 4-year FP7 research project that developed a theoretical model and worked on the creation and evaluation of a range of ‘Mirror’ apps based on our Mirror reflection model. The findings divulge how the apps and serious games can facilitate reflectionº at work, by empowering employees to learn by reflection on their work practice and on their personal learning experiences.
SKILL2E: Online Reflection for Intercultural Competence GaineLearning Papers
The project SKILL2E aims to equip students on international work placements with intercultural competences. The model proposes a double loop learning cycle in which a shared online diary using guided questions is used for reflection. Preliminary results illustrate how this collaborative approach is conducive to the development of intercultural competences.
Experience Networking in the TVET System to Improve Occupational CompetencieseLearning Papers
This paper aims at considering the development and strengthening of networks in (T)VET systems as a means of improving employability and mobility of workers, through a system where occupational competences, required by the Labour Market, described in terms of Learning Outcomes that can be assessed and validated in all different contexts (formal, non formal and informal) developed following quality standards, will be abreast with changes and innovations of the global context requirements, in order to respond to those shortcomings that limit the potential growth of countries with serious implications for the participation in global markets, job growth, economical and social stability.
Leveraging Trust to Support Online Learning Creativity – A Case StudyeLearning Papers
The insights shared through this article build on data collected in real life situations. The work described here attempts to understand how trust can be used as leverage to support online learning and creative collaboration. This report explores this understanding from the teacher perspective. It examines trust commitments in an international setting within which learners from different European countries collaborate and articulate their learning tasks and skills at a distance. This research endeavour aims to recognize both individual and group vulnerabilities as opportunities to strengthen their cooperation and collaboration. We believe that by understanding how to assess and monitor learners’ trust, teachers could use this information to intervene and provide positive support, thereby promoting and reinforcing learners’ autonomy and their motivation to creatively engage in their learning activities.
The results gathered so far enabled an initial understanding of what to look for when monitoring trust with the intention of understanding and influencing learners’ behaviours. They point to three main aspects to monitor on students: (1) their perception of each others’ intentions, in a given context, (2) their level of cooperation as expressed by changes in individual and group commitments towards a particular activity; and, (3) their attitudes towards the use of communication mediums for learning purposes (intentions of use, actual use and reactions to actual use).
Innovating Teaching and Learning Practices: Key Elements for Developing Crea...eLearning Papers
This paper looks at how to innovate teaching and learning practices at system level. It describes the vision for ‘Creative Classrooms’ and makes a consolidated proposal for their implementation, clarifying their holistic and systemic nature, their intended learning outcomes, and their pedagogical, technological, and organisational dimensions for innovation. ‘Creative Classrooms’ (CCR) are conceptualized as innovative learning environments that fully embed the potential of ICT to innovate learning and teaching practices in formal, non-formal and informal settings.
The proposed multi-dimensional concept for CCR consists of eight encompassing and interconnected key dimensions and a set of 28 reference parameters (‘building blocks’). At the heart of the CCR concept lie innovative pedagogical practices that emerge when teachers use ICT in their efforts to organize newer and improved forms of open-ended, collaborative, and meaningful learning activities, rather than simply to enhance traditional pedagogies, such as expository lessons and task-based learning.
A preliminary analysis of two existing cases of ICT-enabled innovation for learning is presented in order to show (i) how the proposed key dimensions and reference parameters are implemented in real-life settings to configure profoundly diverse types of CCR and (ii) to depict the systemic approach needed for the sustainable implementation and progressive up-scaling of Creative Classrooms across Europe.
Website – A Partnership between Parents, Students and SchoolseLearning Papers
The website developed by the 1.b class at the Augusta Šenoa elementary school is, first and foremost, a pioneering work stemming from cooperation among teachers and parents. The purpose of the website is to inform, activate, and involve parents, students and teachers who work in the classroom. Each activity is documented, giving insight into the everyday activities, and making the classroom visible and transparent to everyone. The project uses new technology (forum, gallery of student work, class mail), and enlists a partnership of parents, who made parts of the website.
Academic Staff Development in the Area of Technology Enhanced Learning in UK ...eLearning Papers
This paper reports on a study on staff development in the area of technology enhanced learning in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that took place in November, 2011. Data for this study were gathered via an online survey emailed to the Heads of e-Learning Forum (HeLF) which is a network comprised of one senior staff member per UK institution, leading the enhancement of learning and teaching through the use of technology. Prior to the survey, desk-based research on some universities’ publicly available websites gathered similar information about staff development in the area of technology enhanced learning. The online survey received 27 responses, approaching a quarter of all UK HEIs subscribed to the Heads of e-Learning forum list (118 is the total number). Both pre-1992 (16 in number) and post-1992 Universities (11 in number) were represented in the survey and findings indicate the way this sample of UK HEIs are approaching staff development in the area of TEL.
The Ageing Brain: Neuroplasticity and Lifelong LearningeLearning Papers
The role of adult education is becoming increasingly important in the framework of policies to promote lifelong learning. Adult participation in training activities, however, is still rather low, despite the incentives and initiatives aimed at allowing all citizens access
to education and training at all ages in their lives.
Participation tends to decrease concomitantly with increasing age: the major difficulty that elderly people have in learning is due to a deterioration of brain function, causing a progressive weakening of concentration, memory and mental flexibility. Today, advanced
researches in neuroscience show that brain ageing may be reversible: the brain
is plastic in all stages of life, and its maps can restructure themselves through learning experiences.
Checklist for a Didactically Sound Design of eLearning ContenteLearning Papers
The design of elearning content requires several areas of educational psychology to be
integrated. In order to enhance the design process, checklists can be used as a means of formative evaluation. We present a checklist for the design and formative evaluation of elearning modules.
It covers the content, segmenting, sequencing and navigation, adaptation to target audience,
design of text and graphics, learning tasks and feedback, and motivation. In the context of a project on designing elearning modules on renewable energies, this
checklist was successfully used for providing formative feedback to the developers.
The International Student and the Challenges of Lifelong LearningeLearning Papers
Although few people would oppose the view that lifelong learning is intended to be a positive experience, it should be borne in mind that an ageing student body might require the development of additional tools and skills for the online educator.
In this short paper we present two cases of challenges faced by international learners who brought with them into the learning environment some issues that were the product, not only of the age of the learner in question, but also of the geographical environment
in which they studied. The names of the learners have been changed.
Fostering Older People’s Digital Inclusion to Promote Active AgeingeLearning Papers
Within the framework of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, ECDL Foundation will partner with AGE Platform Europe to promote older people’s digital inclusion.
This collaboration involves the launch of an updated ICT training programme adapted to older people’s needs: a revised version of the ECDL Foundation’s accessible ICT training programme, EqualSkills.
eLearning and Social Networking in Mentoring Processes to Support Active AgeingeLearning Papers
Mentoring is a human resources development process often used to induct, introduce and guide staff into places of employment.
Training people on the job or using elderly people as mentors can be organised to address aspects like skill shortage in organisations, recruiting and retaining personal with the necessary knowledge and active involvement of older people. In this paper we present some aspects of mentoring, particularly the ICT support of such process and
give examples.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
How to Build a Module in Odoo 17 Using the Scaffold MethodCeline George
Odoo provides an option for creating a module by using a single line command. By using this command the user can make a whole structure of a module. It is very easy for a beginner to make a module. There is no need to make each file manually. This slide will show how to create a module using the scaffold method.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
বাংলাদেশের অর্থনৈতিক সমীক্ষা ২০২৪ [Bangladesh Economic Review 2024 Bangla.pdf] কম্পিউটার , ট্যাব ও স্মার্ট ফোন ভার্সন সহ সম্পূর্ণ বাংলা ই-বুক বা pdf বই " সুচিপত্র ...বুকমার্ক মেনু 🔖 ও হাইপার লিংক মেনু 📝👆 যুক্ত ..
আমাদের সবার জন্য খুব খুব গুরুত্বপূর্ণ একটি বই ..বিসিএস, ব্যাংক, ইউনিভার্সিটি ভর্তি ও যে কোন প্রতিযোগিতা মূলক পরীক্ষার জন্য এর খুব ইম্পরট্যান্ট একটি বিষয় ...তাছাড়া বাংলাদেশের সাম্প্রতিক যে কোন ডাটা বা তথ্য এই বইতে পাবেন ...
তাই একজন নাগরিক হিসাবে এই তথ্য গুলো আপনার জানা প্রয়োজন ...।
বিসিএস ও ব্যাংক এর লিখিত পরীক্ষা ...+এছাড়া মাধ্যমিক ও উচ্চমাধ্যমিকের স্টুডেন্টদের জন্য অনেক কাজে আসবে ...
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
EnerCities, a Serious Game to Stimulate Sustainability and Energy Conservation: Preliminary Results
1. In-depth
EnerCities, a Serious Game to Stimulate
Sustainability and Energy Conservation: Preliminary
Results
Authors Serious gaming is generally considered to be a powerful means to educate people. Us-
ing such games in order to influence the energy consumers of tomorrow –i.e. present-
Erik Knol
day secondary school students to become more environmentally friendly and conserve
Owner of consultancy Qeam
BV and initiator of EnerCities more energy at home– presents researchers and designers with a specific set of chal-
project lenges. In addition to resorting desired effects on outcome variables, the game also has
erik.knol@qeam.com to appeal to people who are highly critical.
Peter W. De Vries
This paper presents some preliminary evaluation results of a serious game developed to
Assistant Professor at the
Faculty of Behavioural increase awareness and attitudes relating to energy use in the household, in a number
Science, University of of European countries. Combining results from exploratory quantitative and qualitative
Twente pilot studies and quantitative field experiments, we come to the following conclusions:
P.W.deVries@gw.utwente.nl (serious) gaming in the field of sustainability and energy conservation is not common
among students, as evidenced by extremely low percentages of reported use.
Tags Furthermore, results clearly show that playing EnerCities increased awareness, and
more positive attitudes towards some everyday-life energy-related behaviours.
Game Based Learning,
serious gaming, energy
awareness, EnerCities
1. Introduction
Sustainability and energy conservation at home are topics that are high on the agendas of
many EU countries and have been implemented in educational programmes on multiple
levels (primary school, secondary school, vocational level, bachelor’s and master’s level).
Arguably, these two topics have a rather abstract and complex character. For instance, sus-
tainability and energy conservation relate to many different behaviours on various levels,
whose impact on energy consumption may not be immediately clear. On a consumer level,
one could strive for sustainable living by selecting in-season vegetables only, abstain from
using the car, insulate one’s home, or wash at lower temperatures. At a governmental or
societal level choices need to be made in which energy needs, emission levels and pollu-
tion, financial resources, etc. need to be balanced; money invested in wind turbines or solar
energy facilities cannot go to housing projects, for instance. In our view, serious gaming is a
potentially powerful tool, enabling youngsters to grasp the complexity of topics as sustain-
ability and energy conservation and stimulating energy-conservation awareness, attitudes
and behaviours of youngsters in a fun way, inside and outside of classrooms. This is why the
EnerCities project was initiated; it involves the development of an online serious game to
educate secondary school students, i.e. tomorrow’s energy consumers, in this respect. This
paper reflects on our findings from an exploration of the various energy-related games used
by students, the effects of actually playing EnerCities on students’ environmental awareness,
and energy saving attitudes.
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2. Household energy consumption and When we look at the current energy consumption figures in
conservation Europe (EU27; see Figure 1), it becomes clear that a consider-
able part of the total energy consumption, approximately 25 %,
The need to inform, educate and inspire youngsters about sus- can be attributed to household consumption. In addition, Fig-
tainability, energy consumption (patterns) and energy conserva- ure 2 shows that during the period of 1998 to 2008 the elec-
tion, is in line with national and European policies. By and large tricity consumption per dwelling for electrical appliances and
these prescribe a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, most lighting increased in almost all EU27 countries. Explanations can
importantly of CO2, a reduction in energy consumption, stimu- be found in the increased availability of electrical appliances
lation of the development and implementation of renewable in each home, both in terms of the number of different types
energy sources, and a decreased dependency on fossil fuels appliances as well as the number per type (e.g. it has become
(European Commission, 2010). more and more common to have more than one television or
radio per household) and the expansion of adoption of the
personal computer and internet. These trends counteract the
overall energy efficiency improvements in the household sector
during that same period, achieved for instance in space heating,
water heating and cooking (see Figure 2). On a European level,
the ambition is to substantially invest in and stimulate energy
efficiency, as evidenced by Member States’ expressed commit-
Figure 1: Total final energy consumption distribution in 2008 of the
EU27 countries (total is 1169 Mtoe - million tonnes of oil ment to achieve a 20 % reduction in the consumption of primary
equivalent) (Eurostat, 2010) energy by 2020 (European Commission, 2006: Action Plan for
Energy Efficiency 2007-12 of the European Union).
Figure 2: Above – electricity consumption per dwelling for electrical appliances and lighting (Odyssee, 2011); below – energy efficiency improvements
in the household sector (Odyssee, 2011)
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In order to stimulate household energy conservation, according Over the years, a variety of elearning games and serious games
to some the most cost-effective way to achieve energy savings dealing with sustainability, energy efficiency and renewable en-
(e.g. Bertoldi et al., 2000), intelligent education of youngsters is ergy have been developed and deployed. Some of these games
needed, focusing on increasing awareness of the role of energy are public-funded games (e.g. funded by the European Commis-
in our society and energy consumption at home, and influence sion or national governments; e.g. EnerCities is co-funded by the
their (future) energy-related behaviours. At schools across Eu- European Commission Intelligent Energy Europe Programme),
rope, substantial attention is devoted to sustainability, renew- while others are industry-driven games that are (partly) initi-
able energy and energy efficiency. Some projects are initiated ated by companies (e.g. companies active in the energy sector
locally, while others are more embedded in regional, national or such as Chevron). Examples are EnerCities (available in 6 lan-
European initiatives or frameworks like the initiative U4energy. guages), ElectroCity (English language), EfficienCity (English lan-
This pan-European competition for both primary and secondary guage), EnergyVille (English language), EcoVille (13 languages),
schools includes three competition categories: energy efficiency Clim’Way (French and English language), BBC Climate Challenge
measures at school, best pedagogical actions to raise awareness (English language), Eco-Agents (24 languages), CEO2 Climate
on efficient energy use, and best awareness raising campaign on Game (English language) or even SimCity Societies (more than
energy efficiency. Besides regular education programmes, new 20 languages). All these (free) online games have the ambition
and innovative educational concepts are being developed to to reach young people and/or students and inform and inspire
reach youngsters and involve them in sustainability and energy them about the social, economic and technological challenges
efficiency (e.g. Gustafsson et al., 2009). One of these concepts related to sustainability, climate change, renewable energy or
is serious gaming.
3. Serious games on sustainability,
renewable energy or energy saving
Traditional education programmes have difficulties to adapt to
the information processing styles, communication and social
routines of young people. Typically, today’s young people prefer
visual information over textual, are cross-media oriented, play
games (from casual games to MMORPGs - massively multiplayer
online role-playing games) and are highly active on social net-
work sites (Bennet et al., 2008). This is why education institutes
would like to find ways to modernise their methods and instru-
ments for knowledge transfer, students’ skill development and
enhancement. Serious games probably constitute more suitable
learning tools due to their engaging character (e.g. Annetta,
2008; Ratan & Ritterfeld, 2009). Defined as “a mental contest,
played with a computer in accordance with specific rules, that
uses entertainment to further government or corporate train-
ing, education, health, public policy, and strategic communi-
cation objectives” (Zyda, 2005; p. 26), they go beyond ‘game-
based learning’ (Prensky, 2007) or ‘elearning games’ in that they
also have the ambition to incorporate fun and enjoyment in the
gaming experience while the learning elements are less overtly
positioned in the game. An effective serious game should take
into account intrinsic motivational ingredients like challenge,
curiosity, fantasy, and control (Rieber, 1996).
Figure 3: Students playing EnerCities
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energy efficiency. Not all games, however, have been able to sustainability or energy; see Figure 3). The game is designed to
appeal to ‘digital natives’ and to trigger them to stay online, be played on classroom computers with rather low specifica-
game, absorb and learn. It seems that many elearning games tions, preventing that EnerCities cannot be played on schools
and serious gaming dealing with sustainability, energy efficiency with less modern ICT infrastructures. EnerCities has won both
and renewable energy seem to have put fun and enjoyment less national and international awards (‘Best Learning Game 2010’
central in the game concept. Ideally, they should be in the first according to European platform ‘ENGAGE Quality Awards’ and
place games for enjoyment containing explicit or even implicit the Dutch game industry awarded EnerCities with the title ‘Best
specific content instead of specific content looking for or trans- Online Game 2010’).
formed into game formats.
The EnerCities game starts with a small village and a small piece
The serious game BBC Climate Challenge is rather text driven of land to build on. A drag-and-drop interface lets players build
and the level of complexity seems to be more appropriate for structures (e.g. residential and industrial areas, renewable /
bachelor and master students. ElectroCity has been available non-renewable energy sources, green zones) to expand the city
for some years and is quite popular. Nevertheless, ElectroC- (see Figure 4). The gamer needs to balance people, planet and
ity, EnergyVille and EcoVille and others have to compete with profit while supplying the growing city with sufficient electricity,
more recent serious games such as EnerCities, the game central implementing energy conservation and CO2 emission measures
to this paper. It too focuses on young people, especially sec- and minimizing fossil fuel use. Each player’s decision influences
ondary school students, to stimulate their awareness about the scores for people, planet and profit. When done well, play-
the balance of people, profit and planet and the relevance of ers receive more potential city space to expand their city and to
renewable energy and energy saving. It attempts to appeal to utilise extra available game options. The game allows players to
the target groups, however, by taking into account their spe- execute several strategies and see the results of their actions on
cific characteristics, needs and desires, both in terms of com- the long term. The duration of the game is approximately 15-45
munication as well as gameplay. To be and stay attractive for minutes, depending on the player’s strategies.
young players, EnerCities has an up-to-date visual appearance,
sound effects and music, and an advanced game engine for visu- 4. Research results and reflections
alising 3D perspectives, 3D motion and animations. Moreover,
gameplay takes place on a website (browser-based), which is A study was were conducted to ascertain whether playing the
also embedded in social media; users of Facebook can easily EnerCities game indeed offered a engaging environment en-
enter or re-enter the game from their particular social media couraging learning about sustainability, renewable energy and
platform (http://apps.Facebook.com/EnerCities), thus experi- energy conservation and, in particular, whether it positively
encing little or no barriers. The use of social media for dissipa- influenced gamers’ stance towards energy saving in their daily
tion of the game also allows gamers to post their gaming scores, lives. During the rollout of EnerCities, a quantitative field-ex-
thus enhancing gameplay experience and increasing the likeli- periment was conducted to test differences in awareness con-
hood that gamers will return by creating an element of competi- cerning energy-related issues between a group who had actu-
tion. A next phase for these serious games could be multiplayer ally played the EnerCities game and those who had not (i.e., a
variants to facilitate in-game interaction with others. However, between-participants design).
research is suggested in terms of frameworks, guidelines, and Questionnaires were composed in six European languages
processes for multi-user games with learning ambitions (Richter (Dutch, English, German, Greek, Slovenian, and Spanish) and
& Livingstone, 2011). placed on www.EnergyQuestionnaire.eu. During the quantita-
The serious game EnerCities (www.EnerCities.eu) and related tive field-experiment (February 2011 – May 2011) more than
educational materials are available for schools and individuals 800 students from 5 countries filled in the online question-
across Europe, in six different languages (Dutch, English, Ger- naires. Additionally, during the rollout preparations dozens of
man, Greek, Slovenian, and Spanish). Large-scale usage of the students were asked to play and review EnerCities. Below, we
game on schools started as from September 2010, and in the would like to reflect on the following findings: energy games
mean time more than 5,000 students have played it in a school played by students, qualitative impressions of EnerCities on
setting (during regular lessons or special projects in the field of
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Figure 4: Screenshot of EnerCities including basic information about the gameplay elements
students, effects of EnerCities on environmental awareness of nomena. This is in line with the study of the National Founda-
students, and effects of EnerCities on energy saving attitudes. tion for Educational Research (2009). It found that in a survey
of 735 teachers (secondary schools) in 2009, 30 % said they had
4.1 Reflections about playing games on energy used games (designed primarily for entertainment) in the class-
room for educational purposes and 58 % would be willing to do
saving or renewable energy
so in the future. Our data show that of a group of students from
Observations during the rollout of EnerCities showed that for 8 European countries who never played EnerCities (N = 757; av-
teachers (mostly secondary schools and vocational education) erage age 18.3 years (SD = 8.1); 33 % female / 67 % male) only
gaming in the classroom and serious gaming are (still) new phe- a fraction (4.5 %) indicated that he/she had played some sort of
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How much fun did you have playing the game? No fun: 14 Neutral: 14 Fun: 37
Did you find the game too easy, a good challenge or too hard? Too easy: 18 Good challenge: 49 Too hard: 6
Compared to normal lessons, was it nice to play the EnerCities Not nice to play in Nice to play in the
Neutral: 13
game in the classroom? the classroom: 7 classroom: 36
Would you recommend this game to your friends No: 22 Other / don’t know: 7 Yes: 47
After playing the game, will you use less energy? No: 24 Neutral / perhaps: 10 Yes: 40
Table 1: Students’ answers on questions concerning the EnerCities game during rollout preparations; numbers indicate the number of times remarks
occur in each category*
* N = 76; Slovenia: 6 respondents, Germany: 13, United Kingdom: 17 Greece: 19, and the Netherlands: 21
,
game dealing with the topic energy saving or renewable energy; and not too difficult), that it was nice to play in the classroom,
of these, 0.4 % indicated to have played ElectroCity before, 0.3 and that they would recommend it to their friends (see Table 1).
% BBC Climate Challenge, 0.5 % other games like Build It Green: A large part of the students indicated to have used less energy
Back to the Beach and 3.3 % failing to specify a particular game. after they have played the game. Remark: attitudes towards
These findings were very similar to those in the group who did energy-related behaviours (at home) are specifically tested dur-
play EnerCities (N = 322; average age 15.1 years (SD = 3.3); 45 ing the earlier-mentioned two quantitative field-experiments.
% female / 55 % male; from at least 6 European countries): 3.1 In response to the question ‘What did you find out about en-
% had played ElectroCity, 0.6 % BBC Climate Challenge, 1.2 % ergy saving and ‘green energy’ after playing the game?’ large
other games, and 2.2 % reportedly being unable to specify a numbers of the students were able to elaborate on energy and
played game. We can safely conclude from these figures that energy saving. Nevertheless, the students were also critical on
(serious) gaming in the field of energy is not common among the learning aspects of the game. Table 2 gives an impression of
students, let alone in the classroom, but this diffusion process reactions. By and large, although these quantitative and qualita-
can speed up rapidly when teachers, specially those with early tive results offer some suggestions for improvement, it appears
adopter characteristics, find the means and institutional sup- that the current version of EnerCities meets the target group’s
port to further bring serious games to the classroom. critical criteria.
4.2 Quantitative and qualitative reflections on “After playing the game I found out that saving energy is
helpful to all of us.
”
the EnerCities game by students
“I can not change anything, but WE could. So we have to
For quantitative and qualitative reflections on the EnerCities work together.”
game by students during the preparations of the European roll- “I don’t feel that I have learned something new about energy
out of EnerCities a limited online questionnaire was used, which saving and green energy, as the game is quite generic. It
refers to the way of constructing a city by using renewable
a total of 76 students from 5 schools across Europe successfully
energy in terms of environmental and money costs, but does
completed. Results show that in principle these students were not give any information of how can we save energy our daily
not negative about the EnerCities game’s thematic focus (city life.
”
building and balancing people, profit and planet), the gameplay “I didn’t learn anything about that, I already knew.
”
(including levels and complexity), and the look and feel of the
game (graphics, colouring, 3D perspectives and motion, menus Table 2: Impressions of reactions on ‘What did you find out about
energy saving and ‘green energy’ after playing the game?’
and options). In general, the students liked the strategic nature
of the game. Students were also aware of the need for balanc-
ing multiple parameters (e.g. economy, energy, environment) in Also elearning and games enthusiasts have reviewed EnerCities,
the game. Some students indicated the goal of the game to be such as Van den Berg (2010) who concludes that EnerCities plays
unclear to them. Most of the students found the game ‘fun’ to quite easy and can easily be implemented in lessons or home-
play, that the game offered a good challenge (both not too easy work assignments. In her opinion a disadvantage is that espe-
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Experimental Group* Control Group* Significance
M SD M SD F (1, 651) p
I am interested in learning more about energy saving
5.02 1.79 4.38 1.89 19.67 < .001
and ‘green’ energy
I am concerned about the environment 5.35 1.55 4.82 1.62 18.54 < .001
I am aware of the linkages between economy, energy
5.00 1.51 4.39 1.53 26.36 < .001
usage and environment
I am aware that environment is more important than
5.06 1.56 4.59 1.73 13.25 < .001
economy
I am aware that I should lower my own energy usage 5.24 1.79 4.81 1.72 9.76 < .002
* Experimental Group N = 325; Control Group N = 328; data gathering period: February 2011 – May 2011
Table 3: Means and standard deviations of environmental awareness for the experimental and control group, and significance of their differences
(7-points scale; higher scores indicate more positive awareness)
cially experienced gamers may easily get bored. Mack (2010), did not play EnerCities) (average age 16.40 years (SD = 3.21);
on the other hand, expressed concern about the lack of clues 36 % female / 64 % male; from 5 countries). To test whether
and feedback within chosen scenarios by the player. Neverthe- playing the EnerCities game had increased awareness about en-
less, he finds the concept of EnerCities great and rather addict- ergy conservation issues, as opposed to the control condition in
ing. The earlier-mentioned ‘Best Learning Game 2010’ award in- which the game had not been played, the scores on five aware-
dicates that elearning professionals and teachers recognise the ness items were inserted in a multivariate analysis of variance
methodological, didactical and technical aspects of EnerCities. (MANOVA). This yielded a significant multivariate effect, F (5,
647) = 6.58, p < .001. Table 3 shows that for each of the five
4.3 Reflections on the effects of EnerCities items a higher awareness score was found for the experimen-
tal group compared to the control group; univariate tests, also
on environmental and energy awareness of
displayed in Table 3, indicated that for each item this difference
students
was highly significant. These results clearly show that playing
The purpose of EnerCities is to stimulate the awareness and EnerCities increases the awareness on energy-related and envi-
attitude of youngsters regarding sustainability and energy sav- ronmental-related issues.
ing. We tested the differences in awareness concerning envi-
ronmental and energy-related issues between the experimental
group (EnerCities players) and the control group (students who Experimental Group*
M SD
After playing the EnerCities game I was interested in learning more about energy saving and ‘green’
4.30 1.79
energy
Playing the Enercities game has increased my concern about the environment 4.29 1.56
Playing the Enercities game made me aware of the linkages between economy, energy usage and
3.95 1.59
environment
Playing the EnerCities game made me aware that environment is more important than economy 4.02 1.47
Playing the EnerCities game made me aware that I should lower my own energy usage 3.91 1.63
* N = 119; data gathering period: September 2010 – January 2011
Table 4: Means and standard deviations of environmental awareness strongly related to the player’s EnerCities experience (7-points scale; higher
scores indicate more positive awareness)
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Table 4 shows the absolute average environmental and energy the TV (instead of using standby function), and towards taking
awareness in relationship with the player’s EnerCities experi- shorter showers significant differences (see Table 5 for means,
ences. It shows that respondents (84 % females / 16 % males; standard deviations and test results).
average age 17.79 years (SD = 1.97)) gave slightly lower item
As indicated in Table 5 no significant differences regarding at-
scores on the environmental awareness questions than the ex-
titude towards switching off lights in unoccupied rooms were
perimental group mentioned in Table 3. The difference could
found. However, this attitude is already relatively high in both
be found in the explicit mentioning of EnerCities in the ques-
the experimental and control condition. This could be related to
tions, leading to more critical consideration and reflection of
the salience of energy efficient lighting as a result of the discus-
the respondents on the questions. On the other hand, in light of
sions in popular media in recent years about the inefficiency of
Aktamis’ (2011) results, it could also be explained by the slight
incandescent light bulbs, and the resulting phasing out of these
differences between the two pools of respondents, especially
light sources. Possibly, this may have caused higher a-priory at-
regarding the distributions of males and females (36 % female /
titudes towards light regulation as a means to reduce energy,
64 % male versus 84 % females / 16 % males). Further research
leaving little room for an additional increase by means of our
is needed to filter a potential gender effect in relation to envi-
experimental manipulation.
ronmental and energy awareness.
We would like to remark that regarding an actual change in en-
4.4 Reflections on the effects of EnerCities on ergy-related behaviours at home factors such as existing habit
energy saving attitudes patterns play an important role (De Vries et al., 2011). Although
we signalise significant positive changes in energy-related at-
To test the intervention effectiveness of the game on several titudes, for the moment we are less able to reflect on actual
energy-related attitudes, measurements of attitudes of the ex- changes of energy-related household behaviours of the stu-
perimental and control group were compared in between-par- dents who played EnerCities.
ticipants field experiment. The research results (Table 5; see De
Vries & Knol, 2011, for a complete description and discussion) As elaborated in De Vries & Knol (2011), it is interesting to see
indicate two things. Playing the EnerCities game resulted in that the virtual city-planning in EnerCities (macro level planning
higher attitudes towards performing specific household behav- and action) can have effects on ‘real world’ micro level behav-
iours that have consequences in terms of energy use, as indicat- iours of the students, namely energy-related behaviours in the
ed by a significant multivariate test of significance, F (4, 648) = household. Apparently, members of our target group experi-
2.76, p < .03. Subsequent univariate tests showed participants’ enced little difficulty in connecting the one with the other.
attitudes towards saving energy at home, towards turning off
Experimental Group* Control Group* Significance**
M SD M SD F (1, 651) p
Attitude towards saving energy at home 6.19 1.16 5.96 1.30 5.59 .018
Attitude towards switching off lights in unoccupied rooms 6.31 1.11 6.18 1.11 2.06 Ns.
Attitude towards turning off TV instead of using standby 5.95 1.28 5.73 1.44 4.44 .036
Attitude towards taking shorter showers 4.82 1.71 4.41 1.82 8.90 .003
* Experimental Group N = 325; Control Group N = 328; data gathering period: February 2011 – May 2011
** Ns. = not significant
Table 5: Means and standard deviations of attitudes towards energy-related behaviours for the experimental and control group, and significance of
their differences (7-points scale; higher scores indicate more positive awareness)
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5. Conclusion Serious games on sustainability, renewable energy and ener-
gy efficiency, such as EnerCities, can and will have their roles
This paper presents some preliminary results of evaluation and
in inspiring students and stimulate ‘experimental learning by
effectiveness studies regarding the serious game EnerCities.
gaming’. As shown in this paper, serious games actually facili-
A number of studies, exploratory, quantitative and qualitative
tate learning processes of students on sustainability and energy
pilot studies as well as quantitative within-participants and
conservation at home looking at the resultant of this learning
between-participants field experiments, yield findings that are
process: higher awareness levels regarding energy-related top-
relevant to those interested in promoting sustainability in gen-
ics and higher attitudes towards performing specific household
eral and household energy conservation in particular among es-
behaviours that have positive consequences in terms of energy
pecially students, as well as those interested in optimal design
use. We sincerely hope that these positive results inspire the
of serious games.
various stakeholders, such as policymakers with regard to dig-
Firstly, (serious) gaming in the field of energy conservation and ital education and environmental education, school managers,
sustainability is not common among students, as evidenced by and last but not least, teachers to put the use of game-based
extremely low percentages of reported use, despite of a range learning on sustainability in educational programmes high on
of games being currently available. In addition, the people the agendas of secondary educations.
teaching these students generally think that serious games are
suitable educational tools, and also appear to be willing to start
using them in class. Moreover, implementation of the current Acknowledgements
serious game, EnerCities, has resulted in positive effects. Not
only did students and practitioners react largely positively, the We thank the EnerCities partners (Agencia de la Energía de
experimental study has shown clear effects on important out- Granada, Akademie Klausenhof, Ljudska Univerza Velenje, Pal-
come variables. First, the field experiment showed higher en- adin Studios, Qeam BV, Lancaster & Morecambe College, ROC
vironmental and energy-related awareness ratings for students Nijmegen, and Unified Vocational Training Centre of Cyclades
who had played EnerCities compared to those who had not. KEK), the EU Intelligent Energy Europe programme, and the
Secondly, the field experiment showed that attitudes towards schools who used EnerCities for their contribution.
energy-related behaviours in the household were generally
more positive for students who had played EnerCities compared
to the control group members.
Although we are quite confident in saying that the serious game
EnerCities constitutes a positive intervention regarding environ-
mental and energy-related awareness and attitudes towards
various energy-related household behaviours, we should not
exclude the possibly positive influences of other variables per-
taining to the experimental settings than the mere game itself.
For example, on some schools the experimental group played
EnerCities as a part of a school project on sustainability with the
direct involvement of inspired teachers, while other schools or-
ganised special EnerCities days with EnerCities gaming competi-
tions among classes and special lectures. The social context in
which students interacted with the game may also in part have
been responsible for these positive results. However, it can be
said that the EnerCities game operated in many cases as the
eye-catcher to inspire students about sustainability and energy
saving.
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