Hygiene Awareness Through Digital-Game-Based Learning

Abstract

Hygiene education is the major issue in developing nations. Improper sanitation and hygiene are hampering growth in other sectors, particularly education and health. Deaths of 110 children are being caused by improper hygiene in Pakistan [United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)]. Hygiene is essential for eliminating communicable diseases, however in Pakistan, as UNICEF states few people wash their hands with soap after defecation. Hence, with intentions of diminishing malpractices, various serious games have been developed, focusing on training users regarding health, and are gaining admirations in this digital age. In Pakistan, serious games are being used for educational purposes only by elite schools. A pilot study was conducted as phase one of this research for impact assessment of the available games on hygiene as well as to assess the need for a hygiene game in local context. Qualitative research was adopted in this study. Ten learners from socio-economic marginalised areas volunteered in achieving goal by playing serious games. Keeping in mind the fact that these learners have limited vocabulary, interviews were conducted with participants from the focus groups. The participants were engaged and motivated during intervention; however, they required guidance throughout. Therefore, the need for hygiene games depicting local context to minimise guidance required by the learners.

Keywords: Hygiene, education, serious game, Pakistan