Abstract

SALAS LOPEZ, Gilbert. A Game as an Environmental Education Strategy on Colombia's Biodiversity. Rev. Fac. Cienc. Tecnol. [online]. 2018, n.44, pp.167-184. ISSN 0121-3814.

Since the affection for native fauna plays an important role in its conservation and protection, this quasi-experimental study with a pre-/post- design evaluated the effect of an educational game on the identification and affection for the native fauna of Colombia in 291 fourth- to ninth-grade students from 11 rural and urban public schools in Bogotá and Cundinamarca who answered questionnaires before and after 4-5 weeks of ad libitum play during school recess. After contrasting pregame vs. postgame, we found a significant increase in the percentages of successful identification of non-native fauna. When asked to pick their top five favorite animals from an album before and after the game, students chose more non-native than natives animals. As for choosing three animals to be saved, the native and non-native animals before and after the game were the same, two of them native and three non-native. However, the percentage of students who chose three native animals to be saved increased two to five times after the game compared to before the game. Although the result was positive regarding the identification of non-native species, no significant change in the affection for native animals was observed, which emphasizes the challenge and the need to design environmental education tools that generate profound and lasting changes in the affection for native fauna.

Keywords : Environmental education; biodiversity; native fauna.

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