At the Future Education Conference 2026 in Graz, Moritz Edlinger, Eva Boehlke, and Stefan Huber, PhD candidates at the DGLab, presented three current research projects.
As part of the symposium "Education for Sustainability: Bridging Innovation, Technology, and Global Responsibility," Moritz presented his study "Playing for the Planet: Effects of a Commercial Ecogame on Attitudes, Affect, and Behavior." His presentation highlighted the potential of commercial eco-games to influence attitudes, emotions, and behavior, demonstrating their value as educational tools for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The symposium was organized by Elke Lackner and featured additional contributions from Nina Grünberger (University of Innsbruck) and Josef Buchner (St.Gallen University of Teacher Education). Manuel Ninaus served as the discussant.
Eva presented findings from a recent study in her talk "Beyond Points and Badges: Examining the Impact of Narrative Depth on Transportation, Flow, and Performance." Her research investigated whether a more elaborate narrative framework could enhance narrative transportation, flow, motivation, and learning outcomes.
Stefan presented the poster "Pleasantly Frustrating, Educationally Useful? Motivational Effects of Game Checkpoints." His findings showed that checkpoints in a 2D platform game can reduce frustration, strengthen feelings of competence, and increase persistence.
