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INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE INTO EDUCATIONAL CURRICULA THROUGH THE USE OF SERIOUS GAMES IN TEACHING NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS
Abstract
Integrating environmental and Earth sciences into education is vital for cultivating ecological literacy and fostering sustainable behaviour. Digital learning through serious educational games (SEG) offers an interactive, immersive environment that allows students to explore and understand complex environmental systems in a global context, in an engaging, dynamic, and risk-free manner. This paper focuses on the use of SEG to improve conceptual understanding of natural processes and climate responsibility. It outlines the implementation of a software platform for creating SEGs with creative visualizations for teaching natural ecosystems, enabling immersive learning activities and context-based SEG scenarios in natural environments. The protected lake system in the Burgas region of Bulgaria is used as an example. The platform empowers teachers and learners to collaboratively develop, expand, and adapt educational content, enriching the collections of learning objects and scenarios, fostering participatory, adaptive learning, stimulating creative potential, and being adaptable to different educational contexts/age groups.
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References10
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