Development of board game to encourage life cycle thinking, and trial with university students in Japan

A key aspect of encouraging people's awareness about carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with various products is penetration of life cycle thinking (LCT). LCT is not a simple concept and should be connected with daily behaviors; it is important to learn LCT not only in primary but also in higher education. Many previous studies suggested that active learning and games can increase the effectiveness of the learning. Against this backdrop, we developed a board game for learning LCT and investigated the effectiveness through a trial with university students. The board game covers key issues, such as power supply configuration, fuel efficiency, CO2 emissions associated with production, operational condition and efficiency, sharing activities, one-way vs. durable products, and so on. Participants completed surveys to evaluate the LCT knowledge they acquired and the game before and after playing. The results showed that their LCT knowledge significantly increased, and was greater in the group with lower LCT knowledge before the game. The participants positively evaluated the game regarding satisfaction and extension to daily life. The positive evaluations were not directly correlated with the increase in LCT knowledge in the group with higher LCT knowledge before the game, whereas satisfaction with the game had a positive influence on the increase in LCT knowledge in the group with lower LCT knowledge before the game. Implications for improvement, such as combining the game with post-learning activities and means of showing value, were also discussed.