Education for sustainable development through business simulation games: An exploratory study of sustainability gamification and its effects on students' learning outcomes

Highlights

• The article presents and evaluates a new teaching technique for ESD based on the so-called action learning approach.

• The results suggest that napuro affects attitudes toward sustainability and develop their critical-thinking skills.

• The study highlights the central role of motivation and personal interests in influencing students’ learning outcomes.

Abstract

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is gaining increased attention in tertiary education. According to the literature, ESD affects not only the content of education, but also its process and outcomes. This requires a new learning culture based on participative processes and new teaching techniques. Among the different methods and techniques as typologized by Figueirò and Raufflet (2015), action and experiential learning methods offer a promising approach for teaching sustainability. However, no previous studies have empirically addressed the effects of this approach on sustainability learning outcomes. For this reason, with the objective of understanding the potentials and limitations of such methodology, this paper presents an exploratory study of a teaching experience based on the action and experiential learning approach, and in particular on the simulation game technique.

A pre-game and post-game survey were developed to evaluate the students' learning experience of a business game focused on sustainability (napuro). The study was carried out at two universities in Switzerland. The results suggest that the action learning approach, and in particular, simulation and gaming, may successfully generate cognitive and affective learning outcomes which in turn may affect students' development of critical thinking skills. In addition, the study suggests the central role of motivation in influencing students' learning outcomes. The game seems to be more effective in influencing the student's expertise in the subject and their attitudes toward sustainability when the student records a high level of motivation to attend the course and interest in the subject before the game.

Introduction

Sustainable development is a concept of increasing importance. It applies to society at large addressing environmental and social issues and has implications particularly for science, engineering, and, increasingly, the current business world. Defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987, also known as the Brundtland report), sustainable development implies three principles or pillars: environmental integrity, social equity, and economic prosperity (Scherer et al., 2013). For this reason, in the literature, it has been associated with a number of triangular concepts, such as the 3P model (people, prosperity, planet) and the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit) (Gatti and Seele, 2014). In addition to the areas of interest, the concept encompasses a temporal and spatial dimension. Following Kajikawa (2008), sustainable development implies an intergenerational phenomenon characterized by a trade-off between short-term gains and long-term interests. The spatial dimension is linked to the concept of intra-generational equity, addressing the disparity in resources among countries (Kajikawa, 2008).

Given the importance of sustainability development principles in the public debate and companies' increasing interest in hiring sustainability literate graduates (Lozano et al., 2015), universities and institutions of higher education are incorporating sustainable development in their teaching. Education for sustainable development (ESD) has gained attention in higher education particularly since the Brundtland report (1987) and the Rio-1992 Conference; both stress the need to integrate sustainable development in business education, leading to the United Nations (UN) decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014). The Brundtland report (1987) defines EDS as “… a process of learning how to make decisions that consider the long-term future of the economy, ecology and equity of all communities” (UNESCO, 2004, p. 18).

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2012), ESD requires “participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behavior and take action for sustainable development.” Therefore, ESD promotes critical thinking and the ability to think in new ways and engage with different worldviews (Sharma and Kelly, 2014).

Indeed, business scholars suggest that ESD allows students to understand the limitations of traditional business practices focused on process efficiency and profit maximization and teaches individuals how to creatively contribute to a more sustainable world (Fukukawa et al., 2013). Following this line, most authors view the introduction of sustainability in management education as a response to the need to rethink business studies in general (Figueiro and Raufflet, 2015).

In accordance with the UNESCO definition, ESD affects not only the content of education, but also its process and outcomes. Sibbel (2009) suggests that the traditional teaching methods of management education, centered on isolated disciplines and based on unidirectional education processes, fail to provide students with the ability to solve complex problems involving sustainability issues. To develop the capacity to think in new ways and from different worldviews, it is essential to stimulate students to be active learners instead of consumers of knowledge (Figueiro and Raufflet, 2015). According to Barth et al. (2007), this requires a new learning culture based on participative processes and new teaching techniques, such as the various methods based on the action and experiential learning approach.

However, although ESD scholars agree on the need to revise classic teaching methods to teach sustainability, the literature lacks an extensive discussion and assessment of the advantages and limitations of each alternative teaching technique (Figueiro and Raufflet, 2015). Even so, different methods and techniques have been proposed by ESD scholars, including the case method, action and experiential learning method, service learning (SL) method, and problem-based learning (PBL) method. Among them, the action and experiential learning method offers a promising approach for teaching sustainability (Figueirò and Raufflet, 2015) because it seems to stimulate students' cognitive engagement (i.e., their active participation in the construction of knowledge), which deals with the way students learn and seems to affect what they actually learn (learning outcomes).

However, to our knowledge, no previous studies have empirically addressed the consequences and effects of this promising technique to teach sustainability in the business context. For this reason, to achieve an understanding of the potentials of such methodology in terms of sustainability-related learning outcomes, this paper presents the results of an exploratory study designed to evaluate one of the main techniques based on the action and experiential learning approach: the simulation game.

Therefore, this paper presents a case study of the business simulation napuro to identify its main advantages and disadvantages in terms of learning outcomes (both cognitive and affective) and thus helps ESD scholars assess the value and potentials of such technique. The main research question of this case study is: What are the effects of the action and experiential learning technique, and in particular of the simulation method, on student cognitive and affective learning outcomes about sustainability?

The article is organized as follows. Section two presents an overview of the main studies related to teaching methods in ESD. Section three addresses the implementation of the business simulation napuro in the academic year 2015–2016. After that, the main results of the teaching experience are summarized, followed by a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of both the specific technique employed and the active learning method in teaching sustainability. The conclusion section presents the essential findings, limitations of the study, and recommendations for institutions of tertiary education that are interested in undertaking a similar experience.