Sustain-a-Bite Bistro: A gamified VR experience to foster the development of transversal skills and mastering sustainable food choices
In a joint research and development project led by the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET) and the Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (BFH-HAFL), an innovative virtual reality (VR) environment, «Sustain-a-Bite Bistro», is being developed.
In this immersive setting, learners take on the role of a chef in a newly established restaurant, aiming to impress three demanding restaurant testers. The testers assess the restaurant according to the quality and sustainability of a proposed menu, considering health and environmental, economic, and social sustainability criteria. Selecting ingredients poses a significant challenge, requiring learners to critically think to find innovative problem-solving strategies. Success hinges on preparing the menu while raising sustainability and health barometer to the green zone; failure results in the restaurant’s closure.
Sustain-a-Bite Bistro, however, is not only constituted by the VR environment, but also by a pedagogical scenario (at least one) designed for classroom use, that utilizes gamification to teach sustainable and healthy food choices through a problem-solving approach, thus combining strategic decision-making with hands-on learning. This approach enhances understanding of sustainable and healthy food choices while practicing on a challenging problem-solving task.
In the project, following the development of the pedagogical scenario and the VR environment, the effectiveness for learning the complexity of sustainable and healthy food choices will be evaluated within a VET school context and possibly also within the tertiary level.
The project will start in January 2025. The dissemination of intermediate results – which we expect in Fall 2025 – and information pertaining to the status of the project will be forthcoming in due course.
The objective of the initial project phase is to develop a prototype that is suitable for use in an educational context to facilitate the acquisition of transversal skills (e.g., problem solving and critical thinking) based on the topic of sustainable and healthy food choices. Subsequently, the effectiveness of the prototype will be evaluated in a school context, taking into account both secondary and tertiary education. In addition, the results will be published in scientific journals and presented at international scientific conferences. Furthermore, dissemination activities will be foreseen to inform teachers and schools about the project, and the prototype will be made available to other educational institutions and teachers on different educational levels. Following an initial evaluation, the project will continue with the aim of optimising the prototype.
