Abstract:

The use of mobile devices in formal learning situations is a controversial issue as it is widely associated with leisure time and distraction, although it can be used to engage, enhance, complement, and even redefine learning strategies. In a technology-driven society, teachers can take advantage of the pervasiveness of technological devices to innovate their pedagogical practices to promote student engagement for deeper and authentic learning. The recent proliferation of applications makes augmented reality technology accessible to support learning anytime anywhere, even in outdoor environments, such as urban parks or cities. This paper focuses on an innovative experience with higher education students, most of whom will be teachers in the future. It describes the new pedagogical approach involving the use of mobile augmented reality games, where students play a dual-role: players and game designers. It follows a qualitative interpretive methodology of case study, using a convenience sample of 55 undergraduate students, in the context of the subject ‘Nature Integrated Sciences II’, at the University of Aveiro (Portugal), in the school year 2023/24. In this curricular unit, the approach is based on the Science-Technology-Society-Environment movement, where science teaching is placed in real-life contexts, more or less close to the students. The “Biodiversity and Conservation” module includes a preparatory lesson for a theoretical contextualisation of mobile learning, game-based learning and augmented reality, as well as an introduction to the EduCITY project, the features of the app, the preparation of the field trip and the assessment strategy. The field trip included a walk from the University of Aveiro to the city centre. The game integrates seven points of interest with three questions each, with different educational multimedia resources, covering interdisciplinary issues within the theme of sustainability. The students played the game in groups for about an hour. The assessment strategy includes the elaboration in groups and the presentation to the class of their own questions, integrated in a certain point of interest chosen by them, with original educational resources based on the essential learning of the second cycle of basic education. The aim is to create a new game that will be published in the EduCITY app and will be freely available to all. The research objective is to analyse these students’ opinions about this innovative experience and the EduCITY app. To achieve this, participating students will complete an individual online questionnaire after the infield session. The questionnaire consists mainly of closed questions with multiple choice, item selection and a five-point Likert scale, although there are also open questions. The data are analysed using descriptive analysis. The study finds that EduCITY is an activity that helps students to learn more about the heritage and culture of a particular region in an innovative and technological way. Students found the activity more interesting during the field trip than if it had been carried out in the classroom, as they had the opportunity to experience the challenges in a real context. It can also be concluded that when games are explored in outdoor environments and combined with new technologies, such as augmented reality, the educational effect can be exponential and result in students being more engaged in learning science.

Keywords:

Authentic learning, Games and mobile learning, Education for sustainability, Innovation in Higher Education.