Applying a Constructionist Frame to Learning about Sustainability

Abstract

Sustainability as a concept is by nature complex and elusive and therefore difficult to address. Creative thinking is thought among the core abilities needed to be fostered for developing a more integrated understanding of sustainability issues and for achieving a more sustainable world. We argue that Constructionism offers an appropriate frame of identifying and fostering creativity by viewing learning as an experiential process of collaboratively generating new ideas and meaningful digital artefacts through the active engagement with microworlds. The study reported in this paper is based on the design and implementation of a pedagogical intervention aiming to engage students in creatively tinkering with a game microworld along with the concept of sustainability. Our analysis focuses on one group of students and examines how ideas and shared understandings of sustainability emerge and evolve along with the creation of a “sustainable city” digital game and through the students’ constructive interaction with a related microworld.