Innovative approaches for effective climate education - Empirical study on the effectiveness of gamified learning opportunities at extracurricular learning places

Climate change poses complex challenges to humanity. In order to develop future-oriented solutions, young people must be equipped with the necessary 21st century skills. Climate education as an interdisciplinary task of schools includes the development of knowledge, competences and attitudes that enable to understand and evaluate climate change and to take active measures to mitigate it.
Climate positive action is also influenced by affective situational factors such as climate agency, interest in the topic and forms of emotional involvement. These personal and situational characteristics interact in learning situations and influence their effectiveness. Accordingly, effective climate education requires that conducive learning opportunities have an affective effect on students.
Place-Based Education (PBE) learning opportunities illustrate climate change impacts by (1) highlighting impacts in the immediate local context, (2) linking climate impacts to human behavioral choices through systems-based explanations, and (3) providing specific actions to deal with them. Thus, PBE is considered to have a positive impact on learners' self-efficacy.
The aim of the dissertation project is to investigate a theory-based and criterion-guided learning offer for effective climate education in an out-of-school context with regard to its effect on person characteristics such as attitudes and knowledge about climate change, emotional concern and psychological distance to climate change. In addition, the person-situation interaction during the use of the learning offer will be analyzed in a process-related manner.
For this purpose, the learning offer within the framework of an intervention is examined for its effectiveness in promoting climate action through data collection in a pre-post design with supplementary longitudinal micro-sections (N = 1000) and individual interviews with students (N = 50). With the help of multi-level analyses and structural equation models, correlations between the personal and situational variables are examined. Grouping on the basis of the person variables will compare the sample with regard to group differences in the situation variables in order to characterize corresponding groups in more detail.
Through the theory-based development of the learning offer and the detailed analysis of the person-situation interaction, statements can be made about its effectiveness in promoting aspects of climate action and thus relevant elements for effective climate education can be derived. The findings will be transferred and used directly in the development of teacher training courses and the integration into the training of student teachers and will thus be disseminated in connection with the learning offer.