Using a game-based learning approach to help students understand the importance of ethics in science

Teaching science students about ethics is important given how technology has the potential to provide social and political power. However, providing science students with meaningful ethical experiences is difficult to do at scale. In this study, we use a digital game-based learning approach to provide first year science students with an understanding of ethics. In this game, students are tasked with becoming the commander of a new space colony that must make various decisions for the survival of the colony. After gameplay, students can visualise how their peers answered the game questions. This allows them to see the variation in the responses from their class. Using established surveys, we show that students’ ethical perspectives changed as a function of playing the game and reflecting on their experience. We thus highlight and discuss how a game-based learning approach can provide students with ethical experiences to help them better understand the role of ethics in science at scale.