Nurturing Environmental Education at the Tertiary Education Level in China: Can Mobile Augmented Reality and Gamification Help?

Bing Mei and Shuxia Yang
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Bing Mei: School of Foreign languages, Henan University, 85 Minglun Street, Kaifeng 475001, Henan, China
Shuxia Yang: Institute of Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Henan University, 85 Minglun Street, Kaifeng 475001, Henan, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 16, 1-12

Abstract: In the educational context, there currently emerges a growing research interest in using mobile augmented reality (AR) and the gamification concept to promote environmental education (EE). However, to date, scant attention has been paid to practically linking this approach to formal curricula at the tertiary level in China. Given the situation, we designed a geolocation-based mobile AR scavenger hunt to explore students’ perception of embedding technology-enhanced and gamified EE in their language learning process. Ninety-eight first-year students, majoring in English at a Chinese university, were invited to participate in this study. In this game, students need to find the answers to 24 environment-themed questions phrased in English. Guided by prior technology acceptance research, we employed a mixed methods approach to capture participants’ experience and perception of the process. The results show that this approach was positively perceived among the participants, for it could not only enrich their language learning experience but also promote their awareness of the environment. The findings offer insights into how EE can be purposefully integrated with tertiary education by leveraging current technological and pedagogical innovations.

Keywords: environmental education; educational technology; gamification; technology-enhanced learning; tertiary education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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