The experimento game: Enhancing a players’ learning experience by embedding moral dilemmas in serious gaming modules

Abstract

The Experimento Game is part of Experimento, the international educational program of the Siemens Stiftung. The program Experimento is based on the principle of research-based learning and offers teacher trainings and curriculum-oriented hands-on experiments from the fields of energy, environment, and health. With Experimento, the Siemens Stiftung also aims to strengthen the teaching and formation of values during science and technology lessons. All Experimento teaching materials and additional media are available as Open Educational Resources on the media portal of the Siemens Stiftung. The online portal helps teachers to find age-appropriate media to introduce their students to global challenges such as the greenhouse effect, renewable energies, or the production of clean drinking water. To strengthen the formation of values during experimentation, the Siemens Stiftung is taking a new path: The development of a gaming module, which is based on the principle of learning through discovery. This means that children and young people actively shape their individual learning processes while playing, discovering and understanding scientific and technological interrelationships through Moral Dilemma Situations. They themselves develop questions independently, work out answers using a variety of methods and reflect on the solutions. Thus, the young scientists begin to recognize that success comes from their own actions – a valuable experience – which motivates them and strengthens their trust in their own capabilities.