A Learning Cycle Approach to Developing Educational Computer Game for Improving Students' Learning and Awareness in Electric Energy Consumption and Conservation

Educating on the knowledge of electric energy consumption and conservation has been becoming a focus and rather urgent issue in energy education. Although several researchers have attempted to apply teaching and learning strategies to promote students’ conceptual understanding on the topic, they still have sub-optimal conceptual understanding of what the major factors of energy consumption are. This led to less awareness of electric energy conservation. With the benefit of educational computer game in motivating students’ learning, this study developed a computer game based on a learning cycle approach for assisting learning on the topic. When using the computer game, the students were encouraged to use electrical appliances for certain durations. To examine the effectiveness of the computer game, the study was conducted with 129 tenth grade students in eastern Bhutan. The experimental results showed that the computer game significantly improved the students’ learning achievement on energy consumption as well as their awareness on electric energy conservation.