Immersive and Digital Approaches in Climate Change Education: Evidence from a Secondary School Training Program in Italy

Climate change education requires innovative, action-oriented methodologies to foster student engagement and reflection on sustainable behaviors. This study explores an integrated educational program implemented within the Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation (PCTO) framework in three Italian upper secondary schools. The program combined immersive virtual reality experiences, GIS-based image analysis, traditional instruction, and two behavior-oriented web applications. A total of 181 students completed a post-activity questionnaire assessing satisfaction, perceived learning, prior knowledge, and self-reported intentions toward behavioral change. Results show that technology-enhanced and interactive modules were associated with higher levels of perceived engagement and perceived learning (with over 80% of students reporting at least moderate learning in immersive, GIS-based, and carbon footprint activities) compared to theory-only sessions. Modules explicitly linked to everyday behaviors, such as carbon footprint estimation and fast fashion consumption, were more frequently associated with self-reported intentions to adopt more sustainable practices (approximately 70% of positive responses). Given the post-only, perception-based design, findings should be interpreted as exploratory evidence of students’ perceived educational value rather than objective measures of learning outcomes. Overall, the study highlights the potential of experiential and digitally enhanced approaches in climate change education, while underscoring the need for future research incorporating objective and longitudinal assessments.