Breakout: Sustainable development goals in teacher education through game-based learning

Abstract

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are obligatory curricular content in primary and secondary education in many countries including Spain (LOMLOE, 2020). The main objectives of this study are to analyse student teacher perception towards the use of online breakout games and its effectiveness for the learning of the SDGs through game-based learning (GBL) in an online university context. The intervention consisted of a two-phase practical session using GBL through online breakout games with preservice teachers (N = 150) in the Master of Secondary Education in an e-learning university context. Participants subsequently answered a validated ad hoc questionnaire to determine perceptions towards their learning experience. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate central tendency. Non-normality was confirmed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov (Lilliefors corrected) and Shapiro-Wilk tests. Data analysis involved both parametric and nonparametric equivalents, involving the independent samples t-test, and Mann Whitney U respectively, to confirm findings. Results of the quantitative analysis show very positive perception and satisfaction towards the use of GBL through online breakout games in all areas and recommend its application in other subjects. There are statistically significant differences with medium effect size according to gender. Women consistently gave higher scores across all items, reporting significantly greater satisfaction, interest, and engagement in GBL and its effectiveness for learning the SDGs. Findings furthermore suggest that GBL may be particularly useful in subjects with high levels of abstract content of which students have little previous knowledge.