Educational online game as a pedagogical tool for increasing students' empathy

the lack of empathy and understanding of the difficulties faced by people with disabilities is a serious problem in modern society, hindering the formation of an inclusive environment and interfering with full interaction between people. Many healthy people have difficulty understanding the everyday experiences and challenges that people with disabilities struggle with, which leads to the formation of stereotypes, the spread of ignorance, as well as prejudice and social isolation. The presented study is aimed at developing and evaluating the effectiveness of an interactive educational game designed to increase the level of empathy and understanding of disabilities in undergraduate students. Instead of passive assimilation of theoretical information, the game implies active and emotional involvement, simulating situations and challenges faced by people with various types of disabilities. The purpose of the study is to develop and test interactive game-based learning aimed at developing empathy and forming a tolerant attitude towards people with disabilities. The materials and methods of the study include the development of a game containing several levels, each of which is dedicated to a specific type of disability (vision, hearing, musculoskeletal disorders), pre-test and post-test questionnaires to assess changes in the level of empathy, as well as the collection of qualitative data (feedback from participants). The results of the study demonstrated a significant increase in empathy in students who completed training using the game, which confirms the effectiveness of using gaming technologies in forming "inclusive thinking" and contributing to the preparation of future specialists for work in an inclusive society. The work also describes the methodological aspects of developing such games, including issues of ethics and the reliability of modeling the experience of people with disabilities. The results will be of practical importance for developers of educational games, teachers, social psychologists, as well as people interested in developing inclusive education and building a tolerant society.

inclusive education, empathy, educational game, disabilities, interactive learning, gamification