Relevant Socio-Environmental Problems Through Video Games: Use of Scratch in Social Sciences Didactics

Abstract

This paper, within the framework of the R&D+i EPITEC2 project, describes the educational potential of video games for the initial training of teachers in Social Sciences Didactics. For this purpose, in addition to a brief review of the scientific literature that addresses this issue, the Scratch tool is introduced for the design of video games that address relevant socio-environmental problems. Thus, 11 proposals for video games designed in Scratch by students of the Degree in Primary Education are analysed. The results of this study show that Scratch is a useful and motivating tool for tackling relevant socio-environmental problems, even though some of the video games designed by future teachers have a limited level of interaction. Similarly, those video games that contextualise the issues addressed in the controversial heritages have a greater degree of realism and, therefore, have greater potential for promoting meaningful and useful learning in Primary Education.