Student Outreach: Environmental Science Games

Each year, the students on the Foundation in the Built Environment take a module in Environmental Science. This year they have been involved in research relating to the environment and the built environment and as a result, they have developed a series of outreach games. There were 15 groups of students, all with great research topics that they chose and developed themselves with a focus on the important issues of our times. Topics included: raising awareness for consumers about the industries that are the biggest oceans polluters; how to prioritize renewable energy sources for specific climate zones and making these viable options; the electric city and inspiring the shift towards electric cars and what that would mean on a day to day basis.

Earlier on this week, the students took their games out into the community - half of the groups visited the ISIS Retirement Home (in Oxford) to show the residents how to play their games, whilst the others played their games with the student population in The Forum (a popular coffee area at Oxford Brookes). With both groups of people, the games proved to be a fun teaching tool. Take a look at the photos which speak for themselves...

Playing games with the residents of the ISIS Retirement Home...

 

...and with other students in The Forum

Maria Faraone and Paola Sassi who co-delivered the module are both Senior Lecturers in the School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes and were very pleased with the progress of work through the semester. Comments from them on the project included: 'the students have been very committed to the research and the outreach transformation, and a few of these games are exceptional. We will be encouraging them to apply to Brookes Enterprise Support to continue developing their projects as academic learning tools'.

They went on to thank the following people who have contributed to the students' learning through the semester including:

• David Brugman (Brookes Sustainability)
• Sean Elias (Oxford University scientist and gamer)
• Elizabeth Wilson and Bridget Durning from SBE
• Andrew Rendell from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Brookes
• Geoff Morgan (Subject Librarian at Brookes)
• Kirsten Hall (Upgrade at Brookes)
• Joe Tah (Head of SBE) for facilitating this robust module and its delivery

For more information about the Foundation in the Built Environment, take a look at our website and blog:

Foundation in the Built Environment on the website

Foundation in the Built Environment on the blog