Effect of an AR-based Gamified Environmental Education Platform on the Environmental Consciousness of Grade 5 Students: a Case Study

Abstract

Education plays a key role in cultivating environmentally
conscious citizens. However, environmental education
continues to struggle to effectively foster environmental
consciousness, as traditional teaching methods often
emphasize cognitive knowledge acquisition while providing
limited support for affective enga gement, conative
development, and active behavior. As a result, the more
comprehensive cultivation of environmental consciousness
remains a critical pedagogical challenge. Although digital
technologies are increasingly integrated into educational
contexts, empirical research examining their application to
environmental consciousness, particularly through Augmented
Reality (AR) and gamification, remains limited. Guided by
Jiménez and Lafuente’s multidimensional framework of
environmental consciousness, this case study explored the
effects of an AR-based gamified platform on elementary
school students’ environmental consciousness. Following a
six-week classroom intervention, semi-structured interviews
with nine students were thematically analyzed across four
dimensions of environmental consciousness: affective,
cognitive, conative, and active. The findings indicated
that (1) the platform was particularly effective in
enhancing the conative and active dimensions, with students
demonstrating a higher willingness to engage in
environmental actions and producing observable
pro-environmental behaviors, and (2) gains in the affective
and cognitive dimensions were more modest, primarily
reflected in short-term emotional engagement and initial
knowledge acquisition. Overall, the results suggest that
AR-based gamified environmental education may be especially
effective in supporting intention formation and
action-oriented outcomes, while deeper affective
internalization and systematic cognitive development may
require additional instructional support.