Gamification as educational strategy for STEM learning: DIGITgame project a collaborative experience between Italy and Turkey high schools around the Smartcity concept.

DIGITgame is a project founded by the E.U. in the framework of Erasmus+ program, axis KA2 'Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices' and objective 'KA201 - Strategic Partnerships for school education'. It intends to improve scientific skills and competences through more effective and innovative teaching methods. The project, started in 2018 January, will be closed in 2019 December; the activities are already in progress and the present work intends to communicate the methodological approach that has been adopted by the project Consortium. The strategy, elaborated by the Italian, Turkey and English partners to reinforce learning skills, is based on Smart City projecting actions by the development of a didactic mini-game with challenges based on the scientific concepts acquired. DIGITgame proposes a new approach to communicate and teach traditional topics of environmental sciences using the new thematic of Smart Cities and taking advantage introducing the videogame solution. The strength to involve actively students and teachers is a double "use" of the concept of education entertainment: to project a game is an unusual amazing didactic activity (entertainment) who's final result is a game designed to support STEM education in an entertainment perspective. This didactic strategy will permit to reinforce the achievement of advanced and high quality competences, both in scientific topics and digital knowledge. It is the way to reinforce the consciousness on sustainable and smart cities policy and management in the citizen of the future. The mini-game is organized around a set of "basic variables" (climate, industrialization, green level, green transports) that design the virtual city contest, the students challenge is to project and build the "assets" (urban trees, urban climate detection by weather station positioning, green transports, solar panel and recycle stations distribution, smart building) from a dared point of view, balancing costs, scores, constrains and final goal. Each asset represents a subject of the official national school's curriculum in IT and TK and it will be the subject of in-room lessons and seminars. The match between traditional approach, gamification challenge and informatics is the keystone to turn young students in involved and aware citizens. All the project steps are driven by questionnaires that have showed us the present under involvement of young people in environment knowledge and planning and will supply the Consortium in tuning the skills in a more effective students training.