How children learn complex environmental concepts through digital storytelling: divergent pathways to knowledge and stewardship intention
Xin Bian, Andre Brown, Bruno Marques · 2026
Read How children learn complex environmental concepts through digital storytelling: divergent pathways to knowledge and stewardship intention by Xin Bian, Andre Brown, Bruno Marques (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13473992.txt.
Description
Bian and colleagues studied in 2026 how primary school children take in hard environmental ideas from a short digital story. Their story drew on the past of the Dagushan Iron Mine in China. The team asked whether a five-minute animation builds knowledge and a wish to care for the place by the same route.
In the main phase, 452 pupils in the first six school years watched the animation and then took a seven-item knowledge test and rated their experience. Interest predicted higher knowledge scores. Strong sound and picture impressions tracked with lower knowledge, as if rich media crowded out facts. Knowledge itself did not predict caring intent, which rose with age and with how the viewing felt. A follow-up two weeks later backed the load account: pupils who felt more strain recalled less.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Xin Bian, Andre Brown, Bruno Marques |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 70 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |