Improving Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Carbon Literacy through the Use of Robot-Assisted Digital Storytelling

Understanding climate change, the human activities that contribute to it, and the ability to reduce or eliminate those activities are key aspects of carbon literacy. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere are the main drivers of climate change. Climate change has brought several effects, including drought, hurricanes, rising sea levels, flooding, and high temperatures worldwide. Robot-assisted digital storytelling is a digital storytelling method that uses social robots to tell stories to listeners. It is an efficient instructional delivery method that can be used to teach students in classrooms. This study uses robot-assisted digital storytelling to deliver carbon literacy lessons to selected undergraduate students and improve their understanding of the concept. The study administered a pre-test and a post-test and compared the results to determine whether robot storytelling enhanced students’ understanding of carbon literacy. The study also used a narrated PowerPoint presentation to provide identical instructions on carbon literacy and compared it to robot-assisted digital storytelling. The study found that students’ understanding of carbon literacy was enhanced through a narrated PowerPoint presentation and robot-assisted digital storytelling. However, robot-assisted digital storytelling yielded superior learning effects compared to a narrated PowerPoint presentation. Based on the findings, this study suggests using robot-assisted digital storytelling to teach carbon literacy and raise awareness of climate change in schools.