Stop Disasters Game as a Tool for Teaching Resilience within Geography Education in Uncertain Times

As climate extremes intensify and disaster risks escalate, geography education faces critical imperatives to equip students with capacities for navigating uncertainty. This study examines the pedagogical potential and limitations of digital serious games for teaching disaster risk reduction, focusing on preservice geography teachers' perceptions of the Stop Disasters game, a browser-based simulation developed by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Employing an exploratory mixed-methods design, the study analysed game experience reports from preservice geography teachers in Germany who engaged with five hazard scenarios (tsunami, hurricane, earthquake, wildfire, flood). The study involved 14 preservice teachers (n = 14). Quantitative findings indicate moderate to high engagement (M = 3.79) and strong recognition of the game's value for teaching preparedness concepts (M = 4.00). However, participants expressed substantial concerns regarding realism (M = 2.57), capacity to challenge assumptions (M = 2.36), and relevance to regional contexts (M = 2.43). Qualitative thematic analysis identified four key dimensions: learning outcomes emphasising preparedness imperatives but limited hazard mechanism understanding; pedagogical affordances including experiential engagement and systems thinking opportunities; implementation challenges encompassing oversimplification, technology barriers, and curriculum constraints; and recommendations for enhanced realism, instructional scaffolding, and contextual adaptation. Findings position serious games as valuable adjunct tools within broader pedagogical approaches rather than comprehensive solutions, and they require substantial scaffolding to support powerful geographical knowledge development. The study contributes to digitalisation debates in geography education by empirically demonstrating how preservice teachers critically evaluate educational technologies against standards of powerful knowledge necessary for teaching resilience in uncertain times.

Curriculum · Emergency management · Experiential learning · Hazard · Preparedness · Psychological resilience · Thematic analysis · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Geography Education and Pedagogy · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences