Abstract:

Sustainability in education has grown in importance, especially when it comes to addressing issues such as climate change, environmental preservation, and sustainable development. However, it persists to be one of the main gaps and challenges facing Malaysia’s higher education, according to the Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint (RPTM) 2026-2035.

At present, Universities have integrated the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within their course learning outcomes in a bid to increase awareness amongst University students; and transforming this awareness into practice remains an uphill task. In particular, Participation in sustainable practices like recycling among university students remains relatively low and this gap highlights the importance of innovative learning approaches to actively engage students and help turn sustainability awareness into everyday behaviour through experiential and gamified learning strategies.

Addressing this challenge, this study examines the design and pilot evaluation of a gamified mobile learning experience aimed at encouraging recycling engagement among undergraduate students. A mobile application prototype with gamified elements including points tracking, leaderboards, and reward redemption features was developed. The prototype will be evaluated through pilot usability study with undergraduate students from the School of Computing and Creative Media, UOW Malaysia. Usability will be assessed using the System Usability Scale (SUS), while user engagement will be measured using the User Engagement Scale – Short Form (UES-SF).

The findings are expected to provide preliminary insights into the usability and engagement potential from gamified mobile learning strategies. These insights may also contribute to the development of learning approaches that encourage positive behaviours and support sustainability in education among undergraduate students.

Keywords:

Gamified mobile learning, recycling engagement, sustainability education, System Usability Scale (SUS), User Engagement Scale (UES-SF).