A Serious Game that builds Energy Literacy through Communication and Collaborative Gameplays

Abstract

We developed a serious educational card game on renewable and alternative energy sources called "Fact or Fiction: Energy Edition". This game aims to bridge the learning gap between Singapore school’s science curriculum and our national commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The original gameplay is a hybrid between two familiar games: “Trivial Pursuit” and “Mafia”. Each player, depending on their assigned roles, will have to read either a factual or fictitious statement relating to alternative energy sources. Collectively, players must determine who is the Fraudster, i.e. the player reading the fictitious statement, and ban him/her from the game. Three additional gameplays, “Team Challenger”, “Presenter Challenger” and “Quiz-Quiz-Trade” were created to be played in a classroom setting and meet the learning needs of different students’ profiles. “Team Challenger” and “Presenter Challenger” are collaborative gameplays aims to enhance communication and collaboration among students. “Quiz-Quiz-Trade” is designed to promote communication in younger, or lower-progressing students. We conducted a pilot test for three gameplays, “Role-Playing”, “Team Challenger” and “Presenter Challenger” in a Secondary school (six classes, 232 students). The “Quiz-Quiz-Trade” was trialled with one class of 25 Primary Six students. We received promising results that highlighted the game’s potential to increase students’ content knowledge on renewable and alternative energy but also promote communication and collaboration among students.