Mythabolism

Overview

Project Summary

Mythabolism will address the (lack of) scientific/health literacy regarding Metabolism, with health implications, with the main feature being the development and production of a board game – a science communication (SciComm) methodology supported in literature. At the end of the project, this resource will be available for future use and may be distributed. Additionally, there will be development of an associated online campaign, with the same aim: disseminate scientific knowledge,increase health/scientific literacy, produce valuable science communication tools, increase representation and awareness for unknown diseases (such as Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, NAFLD and others), and reach disenfranchised communities (through partner associations).

This project will also promote the establishment and reinforcement of several and multidisciplinary partnerships, being developed by a multidisciplinary team from UC and assessed with help of partnerships to reach communities of interest (main target audience is young adults). The team includes members from CNC-UC (iiiUC), CEIS20, CISUC (FCTUC) and LabTE (FPCEUC), all qualified in their fields, as detailed in the member descriptions of this application. 

The literature supports the effectiveness of using games for learning: it improves motivation and engagement, and it facilitates acquisition of new knowledge. Moreover, gameplay promotes the development of many important soft skills, such as collaboration, communication, critical-thinking and problem-solving. Thus, this strategy combining learning and entertainment is effective and powerful. Consequently, through gameplay, the included scientific information will be efficiently internalised by the players, increasing their health and scientific literacy, attaining the project’s aim. This will promote public engagement and transfer of scientific research to the society: by making people more knowledgeable and thus capable of making better decisions regarding their health and of navigating the personal and public spheres. We will perform evaluation studies to assess the impact of these approaches in scientific engagement using quantitative methods.

Project Details