literature review for game development

• Open access
• Published: 06 September 2023

Game-based learning in computer science education: a scoping literature review

• Maja Videnovik   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9859-5051 1 ,
• Tone Vold   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4850-3363 2 ,
• Linda Kiønig   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8768-9370 2 ,
• Ana Madevska Bogdanova   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0906-3548 3 &
• Vladimir Trajkovik   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8103-8059 3  

International Journal of STEM Education volume  10 , Article number:  54 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Using games in education has the potential to increase students’ motivation and engagement in the learning process, gathering long-lasting practical knowledge. Expanding interest in implementing a game-based approach in computer science education highlights the need for a comprehensive overview of the literature research. This scoping review aims to provide insight into current trends and identify research gaps and potential research topics concerning game-based learning in computer science. Using standard methodology for scoping review, we identified 113 articles from four digital libraries published between 2017 and 2021. Those articles were analyzed concerning the educational level, type of the game, computer science topic covered by the game, pedagogical strategies, and purpose for implementing this approach in different educational levels. The results show that the number of research articles has increased through the years, confirming the importance of implementing a game-based approach in computer science. Different kinds of games, using different technology, concerning different computer science topics are presented in the research. The obtained results indicate that there is no standardized game or standardized methodology that can be used for the creation of an educational game for computer science education. Analyzed articles mainly implement a game-based approach using learning by playing, and no significant focus is given to the effectiveness of learning by designing a game as a pedagogical strategy. Moreover, the approach is mainly implemented for developing computational thinking or programming skills, highlighting the need for its implementation in other topics beyond programming.

Introduction

The world is changing very fast due to the emergence of technology in our everyday lives. This tremendous change can be noticed in different areas, including education. Students are influenced by the digital era, surrounded by technology and working with a massive amount of digital information on an everyday base. They are used to interactive environments and fast communication and prefer learning by doing (Unger & Meiran, 2020 ). Traditional learning environments, where students should sit and listen to the information provided by the teachers are unacceptable for them (Campbell, 2020 ). Students require active learning environments, using the possibilities of various technology applications to gain knowledge. They seek more interesting, fun, motivating and engaging learning experiences (Anastasiadis et al., 2018 ).

Creating engaging learning environments can develop students' critical thinking, problem-solving skills, creativity and cooperation, preparing students for living in a constantly changing world (Joshi et al., 2022 ; Lapek, 2018 ; Tang et al., 2020 ). Education needs to shift toward active learning approaches that will encourage students to engage on a deeper level than traditional lecture-based methods (Boyer et al., 2014 ). To achieve this, teachers must find an approach tied to digital tools that students use daily (Videnovik et al., 2020 ).

Implementation of a game-based learning approach for creating engaging learning environments

Game-based learning is considered one of the most innovative learning approaches for increasing students' interest in education by playing games (Priyaadharshini et al., 2020 ). It refers to using games as an educational tool or strategy to facilitate learning and engagement (Li et al., 2021 ). Game-based learning involves designing and incorporating educational content within a game format, where players actively participate and interact with the game mechanics to acquire knowledge or develop skills. Many approaches tackle the umbrella of application of game-based learning in different educational fields. Different playful experiences can enable children to construct knowledge by playing and exploring a real-world problem often driven by students’ interest in inquiry (Hirsh-Pasek, 2020 ). Gamification is a process that uses game elements, such as points, rewards, badges and competition during the learning process, establishing interactive and engaging learning environments (Turan et al., 2016 ). Gamification aims to enhance motivation, engagement, and participation using the inherent appeal of games. Designing interactive and entertaining games, primarily for education, is a step forward in implementing game-based learning. Serious games enable players to cultivate their knowledge and practice their skills by overcoming numerous interruptions during gaming (Yu, 2019 ). Effectively designed serious games facilitate learning by stimulating creativity, igniting interest, promoting discourse, and cultivating a competitive drive for exploration in diverse fields. Different mobile and location-based technologies provide opportunities to embed learning in authentic environments and thereby enhance engagement and learning outside traditional formal educational settings (Huizenga et al., 2009 ). Those games can simulate various aspects of reality, such as driving a vehicle, managing a city, or piloting an aircraft, allowing players to experiment and make decisions in a safe space without real-world consequences (Toh & Kirschner, 2020 ).

Games enable the integration of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational components to create an environment, where players feel more motivated to engage in the activities (Hartt et al., 2020 ). When digital game-based learning is implemented, including key game design elements (collaboration, choice, feedback), there is typically a positive impact on student engagement (Serrano, 2019 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). Students approach gameplay with interest and dedication and are persistent in progressing it. Therefore, teachers must find different ways to implement a game-based approach in the classroom, utilizing students' engagement, persistence and motivation during gameplay for classroom activities. During game-based learning, students have fun and enjoy themselves with increased imagination and natural curiosity, which can lead to high levels of participation and the student's involvement in the learning process. In this way, students can be more successfully engaged in meaningful learning than traditional teaching methods (Hamari et al., 2016 ; Huizenga et al., 2009 ; Karram, 2021 ).

Research on using a game-based learning approach in education

In the last decade, the game-based approach is receiving increasing attention in the research community due to its potential to increase students' motivation and engagement, promoting a student-centred learning environment. Many researchers show that digital game-based learning is becoming a powerful tool in education, making learning more enjoyable, easier and efficient (Boyle et al., 2016 ; Hafeez, 2022 ). Implementation of a game-based learning approach can provide students with an engaging, motivating and stimulating environment (Ghergulescu & Muntean, 2012 ; Hwang et al., 2014 ), supporting them to focus on the task and increasing overall learning experiences (Hamari et al., 2016 ). Moreover, game-based learning has the potential to improve students’ competencies and academic performance (Clark et al., 2016 ; López-Fernández et al., 2021a , 2021b ; Mezentseva et al., 2021 ; Noroozi et al., 2020 ; Sanchez Mena & Martí-Parreño, 2017 ; Vu & Feinstein, 2017 ). It presents the learners with rich, immersive environments and experiences that are not just about learning facts but enables the development of problem-solving, decision-making, and strategic planning (Lymbery, 2012 ; Sung & Hwang, 2013 ) skills. In addition, the student's academic achievement using a game-based approach is better than those learning through the traditional method (Arcagök, 2021 ; Partovi & Razavi, 2019 ; Roodt & Ryklief, 2022 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). Educational games promote active and self-directed learning, enabling students to learn from authentic situations and receive immediate feedback (Pellas & Mystakidis, 2020 ; Zhao et al., 2021 ). It can be highly personalized, allowing students to learn at their own pace and in a way best suited to their individual needs and learning styles, engaging them in the self-assessment process (Videnovik et al., 2022 ). In a gaming environment, students can explore different scenarios, make choices, and learn from the consequences of their actions without fear of making a mistake.

Despite the great potential of the game-based approach for learning, it must be noted that developing educational games can be very complex and costly, and faces significant challenges (Boyle et al., 2016 ). The process of designing an educational game needs a lot of planning and requires a lot of skills (Hussein et al., 2019 ). Teachers do not have necessary skills to develop a game that combines entertainment and educational elements to increase student's interest and motivation during learning (Qian & Clarck, 2016 ). On the other side, game developers have problem to align educational goals within the game. In addition, the games must be well-designed and with the right level of complexity so the learners should not be bored or frustrated during the play (Liu et al., 2020 ; Vlahu-Gjorgievska et al., 2018 ), taking into account both educational and entertainment elements. That is why educators cannot depend solely on professional game designers and must take on the responsibility of creating these immersive learning experiences themselves or by engaging their students in the design process.

Game-based learning approach in computer science education

The game-based approach provides a dynamic and effective way for students to learn and apply their knowledge in a variety of subjects, such as math (Vankúš, 2021 ), physics (Cardinot & Fairfield, 2019 ), languages (Lee, 2019 ), and history (Kusuma et al., 2021 ). This approach allows students to learn complex concepts and skills in a fun and interactive way while also fostering critical thinking and collaboration. It is particularly effective in computer science, where students can learn about algorithms, data structures, networks, software testing and programming languages by designing and testing their games and simulations (Kalderova et al., 2023 ). In addition, game-based learning can help to bridge the gap between theory and practice, allowing students to apply their knowledge in a real-world context (Barz et al., 2023 ).

The importance of computer science has been emphasized in the last decade through different campaigns and online platforms. Their main aim is to develop students' computational thinking skills and attract students to coding, mainly through a game-based approach (code.org, codeweek.org). They offer teachers access to materials and learning scenarios covering different unplugged activities and block-based programming. Students have an opportunity to play games and learn basic programming concepts through fun and interactive activities, developing collaboration and competitiveness at the same time. Game narratives, collecting points, and immediate feedback through these games increase students’ engagement. These platforms are a valid option for developing computational thinking at an early age and a good way for students to develop creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills (Barradas et al., 2020 ).

Various block-based programming languages, which are also accessible online (Scratch, Footnote 1 Snap, Footnote 2 Blockly Footnote 3 ), are used to develop students' computational thinking and block-based programming skills, especially in primary education. In addition, they support the development of interactive projects that students can use afterward (Tsur & Rusk, 2018 ). Moreover, students can develop animations, interactive stories, and games, which allow them to engage in the coding process, learn programming concepts and even learn about other computer science topics during game design.

Topics connected with programming are the most common in computer science, but learning how to program is often recognized as a frustrating activity (Yassine et al., 2018 ). Learning object-oriented programming languages is especially difficult for students, because programming concepts are complex, cognitively demanding, require algorithmic thinking and problem-solving skills, and is a long-term process (Zapušek & Rugelj, 2013 ). Game-based learning stimulates active learning and enables students to learn about programming concepts in fun and engaging ways through visual interfaces and engaging environments (CodeCombat, Footnote 4 Alice, Footnote 5 Greenfoot Footnote 6 ). Those engaging and motivating environments enable simplifying complex programming concepts, such as inheritance, nested loops, and recursion (Karram, 2021 ).

Different pedagogical strategies can be used to implement game-based learning in computer science, empowering students' skills and increasing their active engagement in learning. For example, students can deepen their knowledge and skills on a given topic by playing the game (Hooshyar et al., 2021 ; Shabalina et al., 2017 ) or through the process of game design (Denner et al., 2012 ; Zhang et al., 2014 ). In both cases, the game-based approach can increase students' motivation and engagement in learning (Chandel et al., 2015 ; Park et al., 2020 ).

Existing reviews of game-based approach in computer science

Existing reviews of game-based approach in computer science provide valuable information about the latest trends in the implementation of game-based approach in the last few years. Table 1 presents latest trends in the implementation of game-based learning in computer science education.

Most of the review articles analyze publications that describe the implementation of game-based approach for learning programming (Abbasi et al., 2017 ; Diaz et al., 2021 ; Dos Santos et al., 2019 ; Laporte & Zaman, 2018 ; Shahid et al., 2019 ), from different aspects: game design, game elements, or their evaluation. However, there are some of them tackling other topics, such as cybersecurity (Karagiannis et al., 2020 ; Tioh et al., 2017 ) or cyberbullying (Calvo-Morata et al., 2020 ). Sharma et al. ( 2021 ) analyzes the impact of game-based learning on girls’ perception toward computer science. There are review articles that focus on just one aspect of computer science. For example, Chen et al. ( 2023 ) provides meta-analyses to investigate potential of unplugged activities on computational thinking skills.

In our review, we aim to perform the broader analysis of the research articles referring to the game-based approach in various computer science topics, different educational levels and different types of games. For that purpose, instead of systematic review, we have opted to perform the scoping review on significantly larger set of articles.

Valuable insight regarding the game-based approach in computer science has been provided in research concerning different educational levels, computer science topics, and used games. However, computer science is a field that is changing very fast, and the number of games that can be used for developing students' knowledge and skills is increasing all the time. As a result, continuous research in this field should be done.

This research aims to elaborate on current trends concerning the game-based approach in computer science. It focuses on the educational level, covered computer science topic, type of the game, purpose for its use, and pedagogical strategies for the implementation of this approach. Moreover, possible gaps and potential research topics concerning game-based learning in computer science in primary education are identified.

Current review

This research represents scoping review that identifies the educational context and the type of games used for implementing a game-based learning approach in computer science. The scoping review method was selected over systematic literature review, because we wanted to determine the scope of the literature in the field of game-based learning in computer science education, to examine how research is done on this topic and to identify and analyze research gaps in the literature (Munn et al., 2018 ).

Following Arksey and O’Malley ( 2005 ) five-step framework, which adopts a rigorous process of transparency, enabling replication of the search method and increasing the reliability of the results, the steps of the applied review process are: to (1) identify research questions (2) identify relevant studies, (3) study selection of papers, (4) charting the data, (5) summarizing and reporting the results.

Research questions

The focus of our research was to analyze what type of games were used in computer science, the subject's topics that were covered by the game and pedagogical strategies for implementing game-based learning, comparing all these in different educational levels. Starting from this, our research questions are:

RQ1: What kind of educational games are usually used during the implementation of the game-based approach in computer science?

Various games are used to cover topics from computer science, from block-based serious games (Vahldick et al., 2020 ) to educational escape rooms (López-Pernas et al., 2019 ). Using different games influences the learning process differently (Chang et al., 2020 ). The RQ1 seeks to identify and understand the types of educational games that are commonly utilized in the context of teaching computer science. Exploration of the variety of used games provides insights into the different approaches, mechanics, and formats used to enhance learning outcomes.

RQ2: Which pedagogical strategy is mostly used in the published research?

There are various strategies for implementing game-based learning in computer science education. The implementation strategies refer to whether students should learn by playing the game (Malliarakis et al., 2014 ) or by designing a game (Denner et al., 2012 ). The strategies can differ based on the gender of students (Harteveld et al., 2014 ), students' age (Bers, 2019 ), or the adopted approach by policymakers (Lindberg et al., 2019 ). RQ2 aims to identify the predominant pedagogical strategy employed in the published research on game-based approaches in computer science education. By examining the pedagogical strategies, researchers can gain insights into the most effective instructional methods that facilitate learning through game-based approaches. Furthermore, the findings can inform educators and researchers in designing and implementing effective instructional strategies that align with the goals of computer science education.

RQ3: Which computer science topics are covered by the game-based approach?

Game-based learning can be used to teach different computer science topics, from introduction topics (Fagerlund et al., 2021 ; Mathew et al., 2019 ), to core topics (Karram, 2021 ). RQ3 aims to provide value in exploring the specific computer science topics addressed through game-based approaches. In addition, it helps identify the range of topics that have been integrated into educational games. By understanding the computer science topics covered, researchers can assess the breadth and depth of the game-based approach and identify potential gaps or areas for further exploration in the curriculum.

RQ4: What are the potential research topics concerning the implementation of a game-based approach in computer science?

RQ4 is essential as it seeks to identify potential areas for future research in the implementation of game-based approaches in computer science education. It might include specific computer science topics (Calvo-Morata et al., 2020 ), strategies to implement game-based learning in computer science (Hooshyar et al., 2021 ), or ways to analyze the effects of game-based learning (Scherer et al., 2020 ). By exploring research topics that have not been extensively studied or require further investigation, researchers can identify new directions and opportunities for advancing the field. This can contribute to the ongoing development and improvement of game-based approaches in computer science education, fostering innovation and addressing emerging challenges.

Methodology

To answer research questions, we analyzed the contents of articles published from 2017 to 2021. Due to the rapid development of technology and change in the learnt computer science topics as well as designed game with new technology and tools, we have decided to research the articles that refer just to the interval of 5 years. As technology progresses swiftly, studying 5 year interval of the published literature ensures that scoping review results analyze the most current tools, approaches, and methodologies being utilized in the field of computer science education.

The research was done according to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines (Peters et al., 2020 ). The PRISMA-ScR methodology is a structured approach used to conduct comprehensive and transparent scoping reviews. It involves identifying a research question, performing a systematic search of relevant literature, applying inclusion and exclusion criteria to select studies, extracting data from the included studies, analyzing and synthesizing the data to identify key themes or patterns, and reporting the findings. It aims to map the existing literature on a particular topic, identify key concepts, and examine the extent, range, and nature of research available. It is particularly useful for exploring complex and diverse research questions.

There is a large number of articles regarding the topic, so performing this kind of research manually seemed like labor-intensive work. Therefore, we have identified the opportunity to use the Natural Language Processing (NLP) toolkit (Zdravevski et al., 2019 ) to automate the literature search, scanning, and eligibility assessment. We have used this toolkit for article identification and selection (i.e., scanning procedures and eligibility criteria assessment). The search considered articles indexed in four digital libraries: IEEE, PubMed, Springer and Elsevier. The NLP toolkit requires structured data input comprising keywords, properties, property groups, required relevance, included sources, and start and end years.

The provided keywords serve as search criteria within available libraries, acting as the primary filter to determine which articles will be gathered for further analysis. At the beginning of setting up the NLP toolkit for the research, to address different games that can be used in education, we have identified the main keywords to be "Serious Games", "Educational Games", "Games in education" or "Games for learning". The NLP toolkit used these keywords to identify the potentially relevant articles in the mentioned digital libraries.

Furthermore, the NLP toolkit was adjusted to search specific properties (words or phrases) within the title, abstract, or keywords of already identified articles to select relevant articles in more detail, according to the features (properties groups) of the game-based learning approach that we are interested in: subject, educational level, educational context, purpose and used technology. Properties groups address synonyms and various versions of the phrase (e.g., educational games and serious games). To be included in the results, at least one representative from each property group must appear in the title or abstract of the article, thereby functioning as a secondary filter for identifying relevant articles.

The property group "subject" was set as mandatory during the search, because we were interested in analyzing articles that refer to game-based learning just in computer science. Since the name of this subject is different in different countries, we have used synonyms, such as "programming", "coding", and "informatics". The property group "age" or educational level included different synonyms for primary and secondary education, as well as higher education, although we did not make this property mandatory. To search about the used technology (web, online, mobile, augmented reality, virtual reality), we have set one property group to include a different kind of used technology, and we also set a property group that refers to the aim of using these educational games (to achieve students' engagement, increase motivation, evaluation of educational results, etc.). A more detailed description of the properties groups is given in Table 2 .

The following input parameter for the NLP toolkit set-up is the minimum relevant properties. In this research, it was set that each article has to contain a minimum of two of the previously defined properties to be considered relevant. The quality analysis of the relevant articles followed in the next step of the methodology.

Study selection

The initial search in four digital libraries: IEEE, PubMed, Springer and Elsevier, has identified 43,885 articles concerning using game-based learning in computer science. After articles had been identified based on the specified keywords and retrieved from the publishers, the duplicates were identified according to the article DOI as their unique identifier and removed, which has decreased the number of articles to 21,002. In the next step, the articles selection (screening and eligibility assessment) procedures followed, discarding articles not published in the required period or for which the title or abstract could not be analyzed because of parsing errors, unavailability, or other reasons. The screening process eliminated 11,129 articles and the remaining 9873 articles underwent an automated eligibility assessment using the advanced NLP toolkit functionalities. The automated eligibility analysis involved the following processing: tokenization of sentences (Manning et al., 2014 ; Webster et al., 1992 ) and English stop words removal, stemming, and lemmatization using the Natural Language Toolkit library (Bird, 2006 ). Furthermore, articles containing less than two properties were removed, which left 1209 articles eligible for further manual analysis and inclusion in identifying the research trends and summarizing the results.

For each of the articles from the collection of relevant articles, the toolkit automatically generated a bibliographic file (as defined by BibTeX reference management software). This file was manually analyzed in more detail to identify the most relevant articles for the purpose of our study. First, the abstract was read to see whether the article was relevant, and if that did not provide enough information, the whole article was read. For each of the research questions we used the same approach, but with different focuses. For the first research question, we looked for any specific game name. For the second research question, we were looking for any mentioning of the pedagogical approaches or strategies. For the third research question, we looked for different computer science topics used in computer science curricula. In that way, the most relevant articles concerning first three research questions were identified. The last research question is related to future potential research topics in the field of game-based learning in computer science education, so it was not used during this phase of selection of relevant articles.

As a result of the manual analysis of articles’ titles, articles that did not refer to computer science subjects were excluded, which left just 206 articles. We could not obtain the full text for some of articles, so they were excluded from further analyses. Some articles did not refer to using games to teach computer science topics, so they were also removed. The same was the case with a few articles not written in English. Finally, we had 125 relevant articles.

Nine relevant articles were review papers that referred to different game-based learning approaches at different educational levels. Among identified articles is a book describing different teaching methods in computer science education, including game-based learning (Hazzan et al., 2020 ). Two book chapters refer to different approaches of using game-based learning in education (Bellas et al., 2018 ; Zaw & Hlaing, 2020 ). These articles were also excluded from the list.

Finally, we finished the selection process and got 113 relevant articles using educational games in computer science that were the subject of further analysis.

The information flowchart presenting the numbers of identified, screened, processed, and removed articles in the automated NLP procedure and articles removed during the manual analysis is presented in Fig.  1 .

Flowchart of the PRISMA-SCR-based selection process

After the final identification of the most relevant studies concerning game-based learning in computer science, summaries were developed for each article. Information about their correspondence to education, educational level, used game, type of the game, covered computer science topic, educational context and general usefulness of the article was provided.

Distribution of published articles through the years

The distribution of the articles concerning the game-based approach in computer science through the years is presented in Fig.  2 . It can be noticed that the number of articles was increasing through the years, but then suddenly, in 2021, that number decreased. The reason might be found in the situation with the pandemic, because in 2020 and 2021, most of the schools were closed. In some of them, the teaching was transferred online, which resulted in a huge change in the way of teaching and learning, and it was a period of adaptation for teachers and students at the same time, which might lead to a decrease of the research articles.

Distribution of the published articles through the years

Distribution of published articles per country

The distribution of the published articles per country differs from country to country. Figure  3 presents the distribution of published articles per country, showing only the countries that have more than five published articles concerning game-based learning between 2017 and 2021. Most articles are published in the United States, followed by Brazil and Greece.

Distribution of the published articles per country, showing countries with more than five published articles

Further analysis of the relevant articles depending on the country, where the research was conducted, shows that just 17 (of 113) articles are joint work of researchers from different countries. Moreover, just two present joint research on game-based learning from three countries. The first one describes the methodology implemented within the European initiative Coding4girls, which proposes to teach coding through a game design based on a design thinking methodological approach linked to creativity and human-centred solutions (De Carvalho et al., 2020 ). The second joint research (Agbo et al., 2021 ) describes the students’ online co-creation of mini-games to develop their computational thinking skills. Interestingly, all other published articles describe implementing a game-based learning approach in computer science in the local context, making it difficult to generalize the conclusions and the research outcomes.

Distribution of published articles by publisher

Most of the relevant researched articles are published by IEEE Xplore (86 of 113) but mostly published as part of the proceedings at different conferences. This might explain why the number of published articles from IEEE Xplore differs from other publishing companies. Figure  4 presents the distribution of the articles by each of the publishers in detail, comparing published articles in journals and at conferences.

Distribution of the published articles by different publishers

Distribution of published articles by educational level

Identifying the number of articles according to the educational level was more complicated due to the different educational systems in different countries, resulting in a different understanding of the terms “primary”, and “secondary” education. In some countries, the same educational level is entitled as “primary”, and in others as “lower secondary” or even “middle school”. For example, in some countries, the primary school includes 6–14-year-old students; in others, it is divided, so there are primary (from 6 to 10 years), middle (11–13 years) and high schools (14–18 years); and in some, there are even lower secondary school (12–16 years). Therefore, we have tried to combine different categories according to the student’s age and to gather three levels: primary, secondary and university, according to the local context (primary education includes 6–14 years, secondary education includes 15–18 years). The situation with the distribution of the relevant articles is presented in Fig.  5 .

Distribution of the published articles in different educational levels

It can be noticed that most of the articles concern universities, although the number of articles that concern using games in computer science in primary and secondary schools is not small. It can be expected, because most of the articles refer to using games for developing programming skills, which is present mainly at the university level. However, in some countries, primary school students learn fundamental programming concepts.

Distribution of published articles by the purpose of implementation

The purpose of the research concerning game-based learning in computer science is different and mostly depends on the type of the game as well as the topic that is covered by the game. The distribution of the published articles according to the purpose of the implementation of the research is presented in Fig.  6 . However, it must be mentioned that it was difficult to distinguish the purposes of implementing the game-based approach in computer science, because the purpose was not clearly stated in the articles or there was overlapping among different categories.

Distribution of the published articles according to the purpose of the implementation

In the most articles (66 of 113), the research is done to measure students’ learning achievement or to evaluate the benefits of the game-based approach by comparing students’ knowledge and skills before and after implementing this approach. In addition, some articles are interested in students’ engagement and raising students’ interest and motivation for the learning process by implementing a game-based approach. However, just a few articles refer to using this approach for measuring students’ overall satisfaction with the whole experience (3 of 113).

Distribution of published articles by implemented pedagogical strategy and used technology

Manual analyses of the included articles gave us insight into additional aspects of implementing a game-based approach in computer science. When we talk about the game-based approach, there are two main pedagogical strategies for implementation: students can learn by playing the game, and students can learn while creating the game. The distribution of those two approaches in the published articles indicates that learning by playing games is more frequently used than learning by creating games. Only 19 of 113 relevant articles refer to the implementation of a game-based approach, where students learn during the process of game design or are involved themselves in the creation of the game. In most of the articles, students just use the created game (previously created or designed for the purpose of the research) to develop their competencies on a given topic. Regarding the technology used for the creation of the games in the published articles, it can be noticed that most of the games are web-based (although they have a mobile version, too), and there are just a few articles concerning the use of the unplugged activities as a game-based approach for learning computer science.

Distribution of published articles by covered computer science topic

Most of the articles concerning computer science topics covered during the implementation of the game-based approach refer to using to develop students’ programming skills in object-oriented programming, followed by the articles concerning block-based programming and the development of computational thinking skills. The number of articles that utilize the game-based approach in all other computer science topics is significantly smaller (in total, 14 from 113 articles). Figure  7 contains more detailed information about this distribution.

Distribution of the published articles according to the covered computer science topics

Types of educational games used for implementation of the game-based approach in computer science

Our research aims to provide information about the latest research trends concerning game-based learning in computer science education. Table 3 gives information about the implemented game, the type of the game, the computer science topic covered by the game, and the educational level, where the research concerning the game-based approach in computer science was carried out. The type of the game refers to the origin of the game creation, whether the game was already created and can be used or is created for the research by the author or by the students (they are learning during the game design process).

Detailed analysis of these relevant articles shows that different educational games are used to implement game-based learning in computer science, implementing different technologies for their design. Articles refer to using different platforms, environments or engines for creating games using different technology. In primary education, most implemented approaches include block-based environments, such as Blocky, Snap!, and Scratch. Those platforms give access to the already created game (De Carvallho et al., 2020 ; Sáiz Manzanares et al., 2020 ; Vourletsis & Politis, 2022 ) but also offer possibilities a game to be created by a teacher (Bevčič & Rugelj, 2020 ; Holenko Dlab & Hoic-Bozic, 2021 ; Wong & Jiang, 2018 ) or by the students during the learning process (Funke et al., 2017 ; Zeevaarders & Aivaloglouor, 2021 ). Even more, their use as a platform to code Arduino boards is presented in two of the articles (Sharma et al., 2019 ; Yongqiang et al., 2018 ). Block-based environments are used in the research in secondary education, too. For example, Araujo et al. ( 2018 ) measured students’ motivation for learning block-based programming by involving students in creating games in Scratch. Schatten and Schatten ( 2020 ) involve students in creating different games using CodeCombat during the CodeWeek initiative to increase their interest in programming, and Chang and Tsai ( 2018 ) are implementing an approach for learning programming in pairs while coding Kinnect with Scratch.

However, in the research articles concerning secondary education, it can be noticed that some specified games are created by the researcher (or teacher) to develop some concrete computer science skills. In these cases, the articles focus on the evaluation of the effectiveness of the game as an approach. For example, the chatbot’s serious game “PrivaCity” (Berger et al., 2019 ) is designed to raise students’ privacy awareness, as a very important topic among teenagers.

Similarly, “Capture the flag” is a game designed for learning about network security in a vocational school (Prabawa et al., 2017 ). The effectiveness of using the educational game “Degraf” in a vocational high school as supplementary material for learning graphic design subjects is measured by Elmunsyah et al. ( 2021 ). Furthermore, Hananto and Panjaburee ( 2019 ) developed the semi-puzzle game “Key and Chest” to develop algorithm thinking skills and concluded that this digital game could lead to better achievement than if the physical game is used for the same purpose. The number of games developed at the university level on a specific topic by the researchers is even more significant. However, there is still no standardized game, and the games differ among themselves depending on the topic covered by the game and the country, where the game is implemented.

Only a few games are mentioned more than once in the list of relevant articles. The implementation of “Code defenders” to enable students to learn about software testing in a fun and competitive way is researched by Clegg et al. ( 2017 ) and Fraser et al. ( 2020 ). However, the studies continue each other, presenting improvements in the game. Different block-based programming languages and online platforms such as Scratch, Snap!, and Code Combat are mentioned in several articles, too. Implementation of a game-based approach during the assessment process through the creation of quizzes in Kahoot is presented by Abidin and Zaman ( 2017 ) and Videnovik et al. ( 2018 ). Finally, several articles refer to the use of Escape room as a popular game implemented in an educational context (Giang et al., 2020 ; López-Pernas et al., 2019 , 2021 ; Seebauer et al., 2020 ; Towler et al., 2020 ). However, all these Escape room-style games are created on different platforms and cover different topics. Therefore, it can be concluded that no standardized type of game is implemented at a certain educational level or concerning a specific topic.

Further analyses were done concerning the type of the game, referring to the origin of the game: already created and just used for the research, created by the researcher for the purpose of the research or created by the students during the learning process. The distribution of the number of articles according to the type of the game in different educational levels is presented in Fig.  8 .

Distribution of the published articles according to the game designer in different educational levels

Most of the articles describe the implementation of a game-based approach when the author creates the game to test the game’s efficiency and make improvements based on the feedback received by the students. The number of games created by the author is the biggest at the university level, and the most balanced distribution of different kinds of games (created by the author, students or already created) is present in primary education. Interestingly, the most significant number of articles that concern using games created by students is in primary education. It shows that students in primary education have been the most involved in the process of game design, although they are young and have less knowledge and skills than students at other educational levels. This could be result of the fact that the articles that refer to primary education present a game’s design only in a block-based environment and using basic programming concepts. However, research articles do not refer to a standardized methodology of a framework for the creation of a game, and each game is designed individually depending on the used technology, topic and educational level.

Pedagogical strategies for implementation of the game-based approach in computer science

A detailed analysis of the pedagogical strategies for implementing a game-based approach shows that most relevant articles use games as a tool for learning the content. This trend continues in the recent period as well (Kaldarova et al., 2023 ). Hence, students play the game (already created or created by an author) to gather knowledge or develop their skills. Detail distribution of the research articles regarding pedagogical strategies for implementing a game-based approach is presented in Fig.  9 and more detailed data can be found in Table 3 . Some articles explain how students learn during the process of the creation of a game. Those are different games at different educational levels, but they all concern the process of designing a game on some platform that will develop their programming skills. Unfortunately, no article describes the process of developing students’ knowledge and skills on different computer science topics than programming while designing a game. It is a critical gap that should be considered as a topic in future research: to see whether students can learn about other computer science topics during the game creation process (while they develop their programming skills).

Distribution of the published articles according to the implemented pedagogical strategy

Computer science topics covered by game-based approach in computer science

Figure  10 gives insight into the distribution of the relevant articles concerning the computer science topic covered by the game-based approach. The topic that is mainly taught by a game-based approach at university is object-oriented programming. The situation is similar in secondary schools. Game-based approach is suitable classroom strategy for fostering higher order thinking skills, such as problem solving, group collaboration, and critical thinking, that are developed during learning object-oriented programming, which is consistent with previous research conducted by Chen et al. ( 2021 ).

Distribution of the published articles concerning the covered computer science topics

This can be expected, because the topic is complex for the students, and teachers must find different approaches and strategies to make it more understandable. In addition, in those educational levels, there is a distribution of the articles in different mentioned computer science topics (although it is not equally distributed).

However, if we analyze the topics covered by the game-based approach in primary education, it can be noticed that this approach is implemented in several topics only, mainly connected with the development of students’ computational thinking skills and fundaments of programming languages (see Table 3 for detailed overview). This trend continues in the recent years (Cheng et al., 2023 ; Mozelius & Humble, 2023 ).

Students in primary education mostly learn block-based programming languages, so it is expected that this will be the most frequent topic covered by the game-based approach. However, some articles also refer to object-oriented programming taught in upper grades. The interesting finding is that there are no articles about using educational games to learn other computer science topics, such as hardware, some applications, networks, and cybersecurity, in primary education, as there are in other educational levels. For example, there are two articles that elaborate on learning about internet safety using games in secondary education (Berger et al., 2019 ; Prabawa et al., 2017 ), and no article on game-based learning for internet safety in primary education. This lack of research articles concerning using the game-based approach for learning other topics in computer science in primary education can help identify potential future research topics.

Potential research topics concerning the game-based approach in computer science

While the lack of research articles concerning using the game-based approach for learning other topics in computer science in primary education is a good starting point for identifying potential future research topics, it is important to consider it in combination with practical constraints such are lack of knowledge, access to technology or teacher training on a specific subject. In that context, “Identifying the challenges, opportunities and solutions for integrating game-based learning methods in primary schools for specific computer science topics” can be a future research topic. It should be noted, that although some articles on specific topics can be found in the recent literature (Alam, 2022 ), there is a huge pool of topics, such are internet safety and digital citizenship that can be explored in this context.

There is an evident lack of articles on the use of game-based learning in primary and secondary schools. The findings in the existing literature that elaborate on how specific game design elements influence the learning process are minimal (Baek & Oh, 2019 ; Dos Santos et al., 2019 ; Emembolu et al., 2019 ; Kanellopoulou et al., 2021 ). These findings, combined with the finding of a limited number of articles that use existing games in the process of learning, define the potential future research topic "Assessing the role of game design elements in enhancing engagement and understanding of computer science concepts among primary and/or secondary school students". This research topic can use conceptual framework that investigates how specific elements of game design can contribute to increased engagement and improved understanding of computer science concepts in primary or/and education.

This research topic includes various specific research questions and theoretical frameworks. One possible set of research questions can investigate the specific elements of game design that can be incorporated into educational games or learning activities to enhance the learning experience. These elements may include interactive interfaces, engaging narratives, immersive environments, feedback mechanisms, competition or collaboration features, levels of difficulty, rewards, and progression systems. Different theories such are social cognitive theory (Lim et al., 2020 ) and self-determination theory (Ryan et al., 2006 ) can be used to better understand the motivational factors of different game design elements (interactivity, challenges, and rewards), and how they influence student engagement and sustain student interest and active participation in computer science learning.

All mentioned research questions can be investigated by conducting experiments, surveys, observations, or interviews to gather quantitative and qualitative data on student experiences and perceptions. Combined with data from learning outcomes, these potential findings can provide the information about overall effectiveness of using the elements of a game-based approach to learning computer science in primary schools.

Limitations

This scoping review focuses on the articles in four digital libraries, potentially leaving a significant number of articles out of the analyzing process.

Using the NLP toolkit automates searching for relevant articles. Undoubtedly, a human reader might better understand the context and better assess the relevance of an article and potentially include some articles that NLP toolkit classified as irrelevant. In addition, after the initial selection by NLP toolkit, we performed the quality assessment of the identified articles, for each of the research questions. In that way, we ensured that only relevant articles are included in the study, but it might happen that, due to the phase of selection some relevant articles were omitted from the study.

Detailed meta-analyses within the selected group of articles concerning a particular research feature can further contribute to the existing body of knowledge. Similar analyses exist, but not on learning computer science (Gui et al., 2023 ). For example, in our manuscript, we did not consider the size of the student population, existence of the control group of students, or replicability of the studies.

This scoping review discusses implementation of game-based approach in computer science by analyzing research articles in four digital libraries published between 2017 and 2021. In total, 113 research articles were analyzed concerning the educational level, where the game-based approach is implemented, the type of the game, covered computer science topic, pedagogical strategy and purpose of the implementation. The results show that the number of research articles is increasing through the years, confirming the importance of implementing a game-based approach in computer science. Most of these articles refer to the research in just one country, in the local context, making it difficult to generalize the research outcomes and conclusions on the international level.

The article presents various games using various technologies concerning several computer science topics. However, there is no standardized game or methodology that can be used for designing an educational game. Implemented game in each of the researched articles depends on the educational level, covered topic and game type. From our findings, it is evident that most articles refer to the implementation of the game-based approach, where students gather the necessary knowledge and skills while playing a game. Just a few of them incorporate the process of learning by designing educational games, and this learning is connected to developing computational thinking or programming skills.

Potential future research might be focused on identifying the challenges, opportunities, and solutions for integrating game-based learning methods for a specific computer science topic. Example topics might be internet safety and digital citizenship.

The lack of research articles on game-based learning in primary and secondary schools, along with limited findings on the influence of game design elements, highlights the need to assess how different elements enhance engagement and understanding of computer science concepts.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated and analyzed during this study are included in this article.

https://scratch.mit.edu/

https://snap.berkeley.edu/

https://blockly.games/

https://codecombat.com/

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A Guideline for Game Development-Based Learning: A Literature Review

2012, International Journal of Computer Games Technology

This study aims at reviewing the published scientific literature on the topics of a game development-based learning (GDBL) method using game development frameworks (GDFs) with the perspective of (a) summarizing a guideline for using GDBL in a curriculum, (b) identifying relevant features of GDFs, and (c) presenting a synthesis of impact factors with empirical evidence on the educational effectiveness of the GDBL method. After systematically going through the available literature on the topic, 34 relevant articles were selected for the final study. We analyzed the articles from three perspectives: (1) pedagogical context and teaching process, (2) selection of GDFs, and (3) evaluation of the GDBL method. The findings from the 34 articles suggest that GDFs have many potential benefits as an aid to teach computer science, software engineering, art design, and other fields and that such GDFs combined with the motivation from games can improve the students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, a...

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• Laakso N Korhonen T Hakkarainen K (2021) Developing students’ digital competences through collaborative game design Computers & Education 10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104308 174 :C Online publication date: 1-Dec-2021 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104308
• Holenko Dlab M Hoic-Bozic N (2021) Effectiveness of game development-based learning for acquiring programming skills in lower secondary education in Croatia Education and Information Technologies 10.1007/s10639-021-10471-w 26 :4 (4433-4456) Online publication date: 1-Jul-2021 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10639-021-10471-w
• Hmeljak D Zhang H Giannakos M Sindre G Luxton-Reilly A Divitini M (2020) Developing a Computer Graphics Course with a Game Development Engine Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education 10.1145/3341525.3387428 (75-81) Online publication date: 15-Jun-2020 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3341525.3387428
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Applied computing

Computers in other domains

Personal computers and PC applications

Computer games

Enterprise computing

Information systems

Information systems applications

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Massively multiplayer online games

Software and its engineering

Software organization and properties

Contextual software domains

Virtual worlds software

Interactive games

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• Dickson P Block J Echevarria G Keenan K Davoli R Goldweber M Rößling G Polycarpou I (2017) An Experience-based Comparison of Unity and Unreal for a Stand-alone 3D Game Development Course Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education 10.1145/3059009.3059013 (70-75) Online publication date: 28-Jun-2017 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3059009.3059013
• Souza M Veado L Moreira R Figueiredo E Costa H Werner C Whittle J (2017) Games for learning Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering and Education Track 10.1109/ICSE-SEET.2017.17 (170-179) Online publication date: 20-May-2017 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/ICSE-SEET.2017.17
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• Mayr P Bendl H Mörike F (2015) The Double-Effect Approach to Serious Games in Higher Education Revised Selected Papers of the 4th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance - Volume 9599 10.1007/978-3-319-40216-1_5 (42-50) Online publication date: 9-Dec-2015 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-319-40216-1_5
• Sakr A Hamed I Abdennadher S (2015) iPlayAStory Revised Selected Papers of the 4th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance - Volume 9599 10.1007/978-3-319-40216-1_46 (411-420) Online publication date: 9-Dec-2015 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-319-40216-1_46

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A new game from Valve appears to be on the horizon. Thousands of players have received invites to a game called Deadlock , a team-based shooter with multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) elements. While Valve has yet to formally announce it, screenshots, gameplay, and even playtimes are already popping up online.

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• Published: 10 August 2024

Mapping biomimicry research to sustainable development goals

• Raghu Raman 1 ,
• Aswathy Sreenivasan 2 ,
• M. Suresh 2 &
• Prema Nedungadi 3  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  18613 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Environmental sciences
• Environmental social sciences

This study systematically evaluates biomimicry research within the context of sustainable development goals (SDGs) to discern the interdisciplinary interplay between biomimicry and SDGs. The alignment of biomimicry with key SDGs showcases its interdisciplinary nature and potential to offer solutions across the health, sustainability, and energy sectors. This study identified two primary thematic clusters. The first thematic cluster focused on health, partnership, and life on land (SDGs 3, 17, and 15), highlighting biomimicry's role in healthcare innovations, sustainable collaboration, and land management. This cluster demonstrates the potential of biomimicry to contribute to medical technologies, emphasizing the need for cross-sectoral partnerships and ecosystem preservation. The second thematic cluster revolves around clean water, energy, infrastructure, and marine life (SDGs 6, 7, 9, and 14), showcasing nature-inspired solutions for sustainable development challenges, including energy generation and water purification. The prominence of SDG 7 within this cluster indicates that biomimicry significantly contributes to sustainable energy practices. The analysis of thematic clusters further revealed the broad applicability of biomimicry and its role in enhancing sustainable energy access and promoting ecosystem conservation. Emerging research topics, such as metaheuristics, nanogenerators, exosomes, and bioprinting, indicate a dynamic field poised for significant advancements. By mapping the connections between biomimicry and SDGs, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the field's trajectory, emphasizing its importance in advancing global sustainability efforts.

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Introduction.

Biomimicry, which combines 'bio' (life) and 'mimicry' (imitation), uses nature's patterns to solve human problems, aligning with the SDGs by fostering innovations 1 . This discipline studies natural processes to inspire sustainable designs and promote responsible consumption and production 2 . Biomimicry emphasizes sustainability, ideation, and education in reconnecting with nature to achieve the SDGs 3 . Collaboration among designers, technologists, and business experts is vital for translating natural mechanisms into commercial solutions 4 . Biomimetics, which aims for radical innovations by replicating living systems, strives for breakthroughs in economic growth 5 . By promoting systemic change through the emulation of nature's regenerative processes, biomimicry's alignment with the SDGs could enhance sustainability efforts. Merging biomimicry insights with SDGs could exceed sustainability benchmarks.

Integrating biomimicry with sustainable development goals (SDGs) is crucial for addressing global challenges. The SDGs offer a blueprint for global well-being and environmental stewardship by 2030 6 . They aim to protect the environment and foster social and economic development. Biomimicry provides innovative approaches to these objectives, drawing from natural strategies. While SDGs offer clear targets, biomimicry complements these by providing a unique lens for solutions 7 . The investigation of biomimicry in conjunction with the SDGs is based on the understanding that the development of biologically inspired materials, structures, and systems offers a novel and sustainable solution to design problems, particularly in the built environment 8 . By mimicking nature's answers to complicated challenges, biomimicry produces creative, clever, long-lasting, and environmentally responsible ideas.

The SDGs outline a comprehensive sustainability agenda targeting social equity, environmental conservation, and poverty alleviation 9 . The use of biomimicry in research can lead to the development of solutions that mimic natural efficiency 10 , revolutionizing industries with resource-efficient technologies and enhancing sustainability. This synergy could lead to environmentally friendly products, improved energy solutions, and effective waste management systems. Integrating biomimicry into industry and education promotes environmental stewardship and ecological appreciation 11 . Marrying biomimicry research with SDGs has accelerated progress toward sustainable development.

Biomimicry can provide insightful and useful solutions consistent with sustainability ideals by imitating the adaptability and efficiency observed in biological systems 12 . The built environment's use of biomimicry has a greater sustainable impact when circular design features are included 13 . Reusing materials, cutting waste, and designing systems that work with natural cycles are all stressed in a circular design. Combining biomimicry and circular design promotes social inclusion, environmental resilience, resourcefulness, and compassionate governance, all of which lead to peaceful coexistence with the environment. This all-encompassing strategy demonstrates a dedication to tackling the larger social and environmental concerns that the SDGs represent and design challenges 14 . Complementing these studies, Wamane 7 examined the intersection of biomimicry, the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework, and circular economy principles, advocating for an economic paradigm shift toward sustainability.

A key aspect of realizing the impact of biomimicry on SDGs is the successful translation and commercialization of biomimicry discoveries. This involves overcoming barriers such as skill gaps, the engineering mindset, commercial acumen, and funding. Insights from the "The State of Nature-Inspired-Innovation in the UK" report provide a comprehensive analysis of these challenges and potential strategies to address them, underscoring the importance of integrating commercial perspectives into biomimicry research.

This research employs bibliometric techniques to assess the integration and coherence within circular economy policy-making, emphasizing the potential for a synergistic relationship between environmental stewardship, economic growth, and social equity to foster a sustainable future.

In addressing the notable gap in comprehensive research concerning the contribution of biomimicry solutions to specific SDGs, this study offers significant insights into the interdisciplinary applications of biomimicry and its potential to advance global sustainability efforts. Our investigation aims to bridge this research gap through a systematic analysis, resulting in the formulation of the following research questions:

RQ1: How does an interdisciplinary analysis of biomimicry research align with and contribute to advancing specific SDGs?

RQ2: What emerging topics within biomimicry research are gaining prominence, and how do they relate to the SDGs?

RQ3 : What are the barriers to the translation and commercialization of biomimicry innovations, and how can these barriers be overcome to enhance their impact on SDGs?

RQ4: Based on the identified gaps in research and the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration, what innovative areas within biomimicry can be further explored to address underrepresented SDGs?

The remainder of this paper is arranged as follows. Section " Literature review " focuses on the literature background of biomimicry, followed by methods (section " Methods ") and results and discussion, including emerging research topics (section " Results and discussion "). Section " Conclusion " concludes with recommendations and limitations.

Literature review

The potential of biomimicry solutions for sustainability has long been recognized, yet there is a notable lack of comprehensive studies that explore how biomimicry can address specific sustainable development goals (SDGs) (Table 1 ). This research aims to fill this gap by investigating relevant themes and building upon the literature in this field.

Biomimicry, with its roots tracing back to approximately 500 BC, began with Greek philosophers who developed classical concepts of beauty and drew inspiration from natural organisms for balanced design 15 . This foundational idea of looking to nature for design principles continued through history, as exemplified by Leonardo Da Vinci's creation of a flying machine inspired by birds in 1482. This early instance of biomimicry influenced subsequent advancements, including the Wright brothers' development of the airplane in 1948 12 , 15 . The term "bionics," coined in 1958 to describe "the science of natural systems or their analogs," evolved into "biomimicry" by 1982. Janine Benyus's 1997 book, “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature,” and the founding of the Biomimicry Institute (Biomimicry 16 ) were pivotal, positioning nature as a guide and model for sustainable design. Benyus’s work underscores the potential of biomimicry in tackling contemporary environmental challenges such as climate change and ecosystem degradation 12 , 17 .

In recent years, the call for more targeted research in biomimicry has grown, particularly in terms of architecture and energy use. Meena et al. 18 and Varshabi et al. 19 highlighted the need for biomimicry to address energy efficiency in building design, stressing the potential of nature-inspired solutions to reduce energy consumption and enhance sustainability. This perspective aligns with that of Perricone et al. 20 , who explored the differences between artificial and natural systems, noting that biomimetic designs, which mimic the principles of organism construction, can significantly improve resource utilization and ecosystem restoration. Aggarwal and Verma 21 contributed to this discourse by mapping the evolution and applications of biomimicry through scientometric analysis, revealing the growing significance of nature-inspired optimization methodologies, especially in clustering techniques. Their work suggested that these methodologies not only provide innovative solutions but also reflect a deeper integration of biomimetic principles in technological advancements. Building on this, Pinzón and Austin 22 emphasized the infancy of biomimicry in the context of renewable energy, advocating for more research to explore how nature can inspire new energy solutions. Their work connects with that of Carniel et al. 23 , who introduced a natural language processing (NLP) technique to identify research themes in biomimicry across disciplines, facilitating a holistic understanding of current trends and future directions.

To further illustrate the practical applications of biomimicry, Nasser et al. 24 presented the Harmony Search Algorithm (HSA), a nature-inspired optimization technique. Their bibliometric analysis demonstrated the algorithm's effectiveness in reducing energy and resource consumption, highlighting the practical benefits of biomimicry in technological innovation. Rusu et al. 25 expanded on these themes by documenting significant advancements in soft robotics, showing how biomimicry influences design principles and applications in this rapidly evolving field. Their findings underscore the diverse applications of biomimetic principles, from robotics to building design. Shashwat et al. 26 emphasized the role of bioinspired solutions in enhancing energy efficiency within the built environment, promoting the use of high solar reflectance surfaces that mimic natural materials. This perspective is in line with that of Pires et al. 27 , who evaluated the application of biomimicry in dental restorative materials and identified a need for more clinical studies to realize the full potential of biomimetic innovations in healthcare. Liu et al. 28 explored the application of nature-inspired design principles in software-defined networks, demonstrating how biomimetic algorithms can optimize resource and energy utilization in complex systems. This study builds on the broader narrative of biomimicry's potential to transform various sectors by offering efficient, sustainable solutions. Finally, Hinkelman et al. 29 synthesized these insights by discussing the transdisciplinary applications of ecosystem biomimicry, which supports sustainable development goals by integrating biomimetic principles across engineering and environmental disciplines. This comprehensive approach underscores the transformative potential of biomimicry, suggesting that continued interdisciplinary research and innovation are crucial for addressing global sustainability challenges effectively.

PRISMA framework

This study utilizes the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework to structure its analysis, following the established five-step protocol: formulating research questions, defining a search strategy, executing a literature search, screening identified literature, and analyzing the findings (Page et al., 2021). The application of the PRISMA guidelines across various research domains, including the SDGs, is well documented 30 .

To ensure a comprehensive search, we searched the Scopus database, a widely utilized resource for bibliometric studies 31 (Donthu et al. 82 ), which led to the discovery of 46,141 publications from 2013 to 2023. This period marked significant research activity following the introduction of the SDGs at the Rio + 20 summit in 2012. Publications were identified using the following terms in the title and abstract: “ (biomimic* OR biomimetic* OR bioinspired OR bioinsp* OR bionic* OR nature-inspired OR "biologically inspired" OR bioinspiration OR biomimesis OR biognosis).”

During the screening phase, publications lacking complete author details were reviewed, narrowing the field to 46,083 publications for further analysis. The eligibility phase utilized proprietary algorithms to map publications to the 17 SDGs, informed by initiatives such as the University of Auckland (Auckland’s SDG mapping 32 ) and Elsevier's SDG Mapping Initiatives (Elsevier's SDG Mapping 33 ). The selection of the Elsevier SDG Mapping Initiative for this study was based on its seamless integration with Scopus, facilitating the use of predefined search queries for each SDG and employing a machine learning model that has been refined through expert review. This approach has been utilized in various studies to analyze research trends within emerging fields. For example, the exploration of green hydrogen was detailed by Raman et al. 34 , while investigations into Fake News and the Dark Web were conducted by Raman et al. 35 , 36 , 37 and Rama et al. 38 , respectively. These examples demonstrate the efficacy of SDG mapping in elucidating how research outputs align with and contribute to sustainable development goals in these emerging domains. This phase identified 13,287 publications as mapped to SDGs. In the inclusion phase, stringent criteria further filtered the publications to English-language journals and review articles, culminating in 13,271 publications deemed suitable for in-depth analysis. This process ensures a comprehensive and high-quality dataset for the study, reflecting the robust and systematic approach afforded by the PRISMA framework in evaluating literature relevant to SDGs.

Our keyword search strategy, while comprehensive, may capture papers that do not genuinely contribute to the field. To mitigate this, we employed manual verification. After the automated search, the authors conducted a manual review of a subset of the final set of identified papers to assess their relevance and authenticity in the context of biomimicry. The subset was based on 20 highly cited papers from each year. We believe that papers that are frequently cited within the community are more likely to be accurately classified. The authors mainly reviewed the introduction, methodology, and results sections to confirm the relevance and authenticity of the papers. However, we acknowledge that these steps may not fully eliminate the inclusion of irrelevant papers, which could skew the results of our meta-analysis.

SDG framework

The examination of sustainable development goals (SDGs) reveals their interconnected nature, where the achievement of one goal often supports progress in others. Studies by Le Blanc (2015) and Allison et al. (2016) have mapped out the complex web of relationships among the SDGs, identifying both strong and subtle linkages across different objectives. To visualize these connections, we employed a cocitation mapping approach using VOSviewer 39 , which allows us to depict the semantic relationships between SDGs through their cocitation rates in scholarly works. This approach generates a visual map where each SDG is represented as a node, with the node size reflecting the goal's research prominence and the thickness of the lines between nodes indicating the frequency of cocitations among the goals. This visual representation reveals the SDGs as an intricate but unified framework, emphasizing the collaborative nature of global sustainability initiatives.

Topic prominence percentile

The Scopus prominence percentile is a crucial metric indicating the visibility and impact of emerging research topics within the scientific community. High-ranking topics in this percentile are rapidly gaining attention, highlighting emerging trends and areas poised for significant advancements. This tool enables researchers and policymakers to identify and focus on innovative topics, ensuring that their efforts align with the forefront of scientific development 35 , 36 , 37 . Topics above the 99.9th percentile were used in this study.

Results and discussion

Rq1: sdg framework and interdisciplinary research (rq4).

This study evaluates biomimicry research through the framework of SDGs. A cocitation SDG map shows two clusters and provides insights into the interplay between biomimicry themes and SDGs, highlighting the cross-disciplinary nature of this research (Fig.  1 ). The blue box hidden behind the “3 – Good Health and Well-being” and “7 – Affordable and Clean Energy” is “11 – Sustainable cities and Communities”. The blue box hidden behind “15 – Life on Land” is “16 – Peace, Justice and Strong institutions”.

Interdisciplinary SDG network of biomimicry research.

Cluster 1 (Red): Biomimetic innovations for health, partnership, and life on land

This cluster comprises a diverse array of research articles that explore the application of biomimicry across various SDGs 3 (health), 17 (partnership), and 15 (land). The papers in this cluster delve into innovative biomimetic ideas, each contributing uniquely to the intersection of sustainable development and biological inspiration. SDG 3, emphasizing good health and well-being for all, is significantly represented, indicating a global effort to leverage biomimicry for advancements in healthcare, such as new medication delivery systems and medical technologies. Similarly, the frequent citations of SDG 17 underscore the vital role of partnerships in achieving sustainable growth, especially where bioinspired solutions require interdisciplinary collaboration to address complex challenges. Finally, the prominence of 15 SDG citations reflects a commitment to preserving terrestrial ecosystems, where biomimicry is increasingly applied in land management, demonstrating nature's adaptability and resilience as a model for sustainable practices. Table 2 lists the top 5 relevant papers from Cluster 1, further illustrating the multifaceted application of biomimicry in addressing these SDGs.

A unique binary variant of the gray wolf optimization (GWO) technique, designed especially for feature selection in classification tasks, was presented by Emary et al. 40 . GWO is a method inspired by the social hierarchy and hunting behavior of gray wolves to find the best solutions to complex problems. This bioinspired optimization technique was used to optimize SDG15, which also highlights its ecological benefits. The results of the study highlight the effectiveness of binary gray wolf optimization in identifying the feature space for ideal pairings and promoting environmental sustainability and biodiversity. Lin et al. 41 focused on SDG 3 by examining catalytically active nanomaterials as potential candidates for artificial enzymes. While acknowledging the limits of naturally occurring enzymes, this study explores how nanobiotechnology can address problems in the food, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical sectors.

The investigation of enzymatic nanomaterials aligns with health-related objectives, highlighting the potential for major improvements in human health. Parodi et al. 42 used biomimetic leukocyte membranes to functionalize synthetic nanoparticles, extending biomimicry into the biomedical domain. To meet SDG 3, this research presents "leukolike vectors," which are nanoporous silicon particles that can communicate with cells, evade the immune system, and deliver specific payloads. In line with the SDGs about health, this study emphasizes the possible uses of biomimetic structures in cancer detection and treatments. A novel strategy for biological photothermal nanodot-based anticancer therapy utilizing peptide‒porphyrin conjugate self-assembly was presented by Zou et al. 43 . For therapeutic reasons, efficient light-to-heat conversion can be achieved by imitating the structure of biological structures. By providing a unique biomimetic approach to cancer treatment and demonstrating the potential of self-assembling biomaterials in biomedical applications, this research advances SDG 3. Finally, Wang et al. 44 presented Monarch butterfly optimization (MBO), which is a bioinspired algorithm that mimics the migration patterns of monarch butterflies to solve optimization problems effectively. This method presents a novel approach to optimization, mimicking the migration of monarch butterflies, aligning with SDG 9. Comparative analyses highlight MBO's exceptional performance and demonstrate its capacity to address intricate issues about business and innovation, supporting objectives for long-term collaboration and sector expansion.

The publications in Cluster 1 show a wide range of biomimetic developments, from ecological optimization to new optimization techniques and biomedical applications. These varied contributions highlight how biomimicry can advance sustainable development in health, symbiosis, and terrestrial life.

Cluster 2 (green): Nature-inspired solutions for clean water, energy, and infrastructure

Cluster 2, which focuses on the innovative application of biomimicry in sustainable development, represents a range of research that aligns with SDGs 6 (sanitation), 7 (energy), 9 (infrastructure), and 14 (water). This cluster is characterized by studies that draw inspiration from natural processes and structures to offer creative solutions to sustainability-related challenges. The papers in this cluster, detailed in Table 3 , demonstrate how biomimicry can address key global concerns in a varied and compelling manner.

Within this cluster, the high citation counts for SDG 7 underscore the significance of accessible clean energy, a domain where biomimicry contributes innovative energy generation and storage solutions inspired by natural processes. This aligns with the growing emphasis on sustainable energy practices. The prominence of SDG 9 citations further highlights the global focus on innovation and sustainable industry, where biomimicry's role in developing nature-inspired designs is crucial for building robust systems and resilient infrastructure. Furthermore, the substantial citations for SDG 6 reflect a dedicated effort toward ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for all. In this regard, biomimicry principles are being applied in water purification technologies, illustrating how sustainable solutions modeled after natural processes can effectively meet clean water objectives.

The study by Sydney Gladman et al. (2016), which presented the idea of shape-morphing systems inspired by nastic plant motions, is one notable addition to this cluster. This discovery creates new opportunities for tissue engineering, autonomous robotics, and smart textile applications by encoding composite hydrogel designs that exhibit anisotropic swelling behavior. The emphasis of SDG 9 on promoting industry, innovation, and infrastructure aligns with this biomimetic strategy. SDGs 7 and 13 are addressed in the study of Li et al. 45 , which is about engineering heterogeneous semiconductors for solar water splitting. This work contributes to the goals of inexpensive, clean energy and climate action by investigating methods such as band structure engineering and bionic engineering to increase the efficiency of solar water splitting. Li et al. 46 conducted a thorough study highlighting the importance of catalysts for the selective photoreduction of CO2 into solar fuels. This review offers valuable insights into the use of semiconductor catalysts for selective photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Our work advances sustainable energy solutions by investigating biomimetic, metal-based, and metal-free cocatalysts and contributes to SDGs 7 and 13. Wang et al. 47 address the critical problem of water pollution. Creating materials with superlyophilic and superlyophobic qualities offers a creative method for effectively separating water and oil. This contributes to the goals of clean water, industry, innovation, and life below the water. It also correlates with SDGs 6, 9, and 14. Singh et al. 48 also explored the 'green' synthesis of metals and their oxide nanoparticles for environmental remediation, which furthers SDG 9. This review demonstrates the environmentally benign and sustainable features of green synthesis and its potential to lessen the environmental impact of conventional synthesis methods.

Cluster 2 provides nature-inspired solutions for clean water, renewable energy, and sustainable infrastructure, demonstrating the scope and importance of biomimicry. The varied applications discussed in these papers help overcome difficult problems and advance sustainable development in line with several SDGs.

RQ2: Emerging research topics

Temporal evolution of emerging topics.

Figure  2 displays the publication counts for various emerging topics from 2013 to 2022, indicating growth trends over the years. For 'Metaheuristics', there is a notable increase in publications peaking in approximately 2020, suggesting a surge in interest. 'Strain sensor' research steadily increased, reaching its highest publication frequency toward the end of the period, which is indicative of growing relevance in the field. 'Bioprinting' sharply increased over the next decade, subsequently maintaining high interest, which highlights its sustained innovation. In contrast, 'Actuators' showed fluctuating publication counts, with a recent upward trend. 'Cancer' research, while historically a major topic, displayed a spike in publications in approximately 2018, possibly reflecting a breakthrough or increased research funding. 'Myeloperoxidase' has a smaller presence in the literature, with a modest peak in 2019. The number of 'Water '-related publications remains relatively low but shows a slight increase, suggesting a gradual but increasing recognition of its importance. Research on exosomes has significantly advanced, particularly since 2018, signifying a greater area of focus. 'Mechanical' topic publications have moderate fluctuations without a clear trend, indicating steady research interest. 'Micromotors' experienced an initial publication surge, followed by a decline and then a recent resurgence, possibly due to new technological applications. 'Nanogenerators' have shown a dramatic increase in interest, particularly in recent years, while 'Hydrogel' publications have varied, with a recent decline, which may point toward a shift in research focus or maturity of the topic.

Evolution of emerging topics according to publications (y-axis denotes the number of publications; x-axis denotes the year of publication).

Figure  3 presents the distribution of various research topics based on their prominence percentile and total number of publications. Topics above the 99.9th percentile and to the right of the vertical threshold line represent the most emergent and prolific topics of study. Next, we examine the topics within each of the four quadrants, focusing on how each topic has developed over the years in relation to SDGs and the key phrases associated with each topic.

Distribution of research topics based on prominence percentile and total number of publications.

Next, we examine each research topic in four quadrants, assessing their evolution concerning SDGs. We also analyze the keyphrase cloud to identify which keyphrases are most relevant (indicated by their font size) and whether they are growing or not. In the key phrase cloud, green indicates an increasing relevance of the key phrase, grey signifies that its relevance remains constant, and blue represents a declining relevance of the key phrase.

Niche biomimetic applications

These are topics with a lower number of publications and prominence percentiles, indicating specialized or emerging areas of research that are not yet widely recognized or pursued (Quadrant 1—bottom left).

Myeloperoxidase; colorimetric; chromogenic compounds

The inclusion of myeloperoxidase indicates that inflammation and the immune system are the main research topics. The focus on chromogenic and colorimetric molecules suggests a relationship to analytical techniques for identifying biological materials. The evolution of the research is depicted in Fig.  4 a shows an evolving emphasis on various sustainable development goals (SDGs) over time. The research trajectory, initially rooted in SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), has progressively branched out to encompass SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), reflecting an expanding scope of inquiry within the forestry sciences. More recently, the focus has transitioned toward SDG 15 (Life on Land), indicating an increased recognition of the interconnectedness between forest ecosystems and broader environmental and sustainability goals. This trend underscores the growing complexity and multidisciplinary nature of forestry research, highlighting the need to address comprehensive ecological concerns along with human well-being and sustainable development.

Evolution of research ( a ) and key phrases ( b ).

The word cloud in Fig.  4 b highlights key phrases such as 'Biocompatible', 'Actuator', and 'Self-healing Hydrogel', reflecting a focus on advanced materials, while terms such as 'Elastic Modulus' and 'Polymeric Networks' suggest an emphasis on the structural properties essential for creating innovative diagnostic and environmental sensing tools. Such developments are pertinent to health monitoring and water purification, resonating with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). The prominence of 'Self-healing' and 'Bioinspired' indicates a shift toward materials that emulate natural processes for durability and longevity, supporting sustainable industry practices aligned with SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), contributing to the overarching aim of sustainable development.

Next, we analyzed the top 3 cited publications. Catalytically active nanomaterials, or nanozymes, are exciting candidates for artificial enzymes, according to Lin et al. 41 . The authors explore the structural features and biomimetics applications of these enzymes, classifying them as metal-, carbon-, and metal oxide-based nanomaterials. This study emphasizes the benefits of enzymes over natural enzymes, including their high stability, variable catalytic activity, and controlled production. Wang et al. 49 developed biomimetic nanoflowers made from nanozymes to cause intracellular oxidative damage in hypoxic malignancies. Under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions, the nanoflowers demonstrated catalytic efficiency. By overcoming the constraints of existing systems that depend on oxygen availability or external stimuli, this novel technique represents a viable treatment option for malignant neoplasms. Gao et al. 50 investigated the use of a dual inorganic nanozyme-catalyzed cascade reaction as a biomimetic approach for nanocatalytic tumor therapy. This approach produces a high level of therapeutic efficacy by cascading catalytic events inside the tumor microenvironment. This study highlights the potential of inorganic nanozymes for achieving high therapeutic efficacy and outstanding biosafety, which adds to the growing interest in nanocatalytic tumor therapy.

Water; hydrophobicity; aerogels

With an emphasis on hydrophobicity, aerogel use, and water-related features, this topic relates to materials science and indicates interest in cutting-edge materials with unique qualities. From Fig.  5 a, we can see that, initially, the focus was directed toward SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), which is intrinsically related to the research theme, as biomimetic approaches are leveraged to develop innovative water purification and management solutions. As the research progressed, the scope expanded to intersect with SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), signifying a broadened impact of biomimetic innovations in marine ecosystem conservation and energy-efficient materials. The gradual involvement with SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) and SDG 13 (climate action) indicates the interdisciplinary reach of this research, which aims to influence industrial practices and climate change mitigation strategies.

The word cloud in Fig.  5 b reinforces this narrative by showcasing key phrases such as 'Hydrophobic', 'Bioinspired', 'Emulsion', and 'Oil Pollution', which reflect the emphasis on developing materials and technologies that mimic natural water repellency and separation processes. 'Aerogel' and 'polydopamine', along with 'Underwater' and 'Biomimetic Cleaning', suggest a strong focus on creating lightweight, efficient materials capable of self-cleaning and oil spill remediation. These keywords encapsulate the essence of the research theme, demonstrating a clear alignment with the targeted SDGs and the overall aim of sustainable development through biomimicry.

Three highly referenced works that have made substantial contributions to the field of biomimetic materials for oil/water separation are included in the table. The development of superlyophilic and superlyophobic materials for effective oil/water separation was examined by Wang et al. 47 . This review highlights the applications of these materials in separating different oil-and-water combinations by classifying them according to their surface wettability qualities. The excellent efficiency, selectivity, and recyclability of the materials—which present a viable treatment option for industrial oily wastewater and oil spills—are highlighted in the paper. Su et al. 51 explored the evolution of super wettability systems. The studies included superhydrophobicity, superoleophobicity, and undersea counterparts, among other extreme wettabilities. The kinetics, material structures, and wetting conditions related to obtaining superwettability are covered in the article. This demonstrates the wide range of uses for these materials in chemistry and materials science, including self-cleaning fabrics and systems for separating oil and water. Zhang et al. 52 presented a bioinspired multifunctional foam with self-cleaning and oil/water separation capabilities. To construct a polyurethane foam with superhydrophobicity and superoleophobicity, this study used porous biomaterials and superhydrophobic self-cleaning lotus leaves. Foam works well for separating oil from water because of its slight weight and ability to float on water. It also shows exceptional resistance to corrosive liquids. According to the article, multifunctional foams for large-scale oil spill cleaning might be designed using a low-cost fabrication technology that could be widely adopted.

Growing interest in bioinspired healthcare

These topics have a higher prominence percentile but a lower number of publications, suggesting growing interest and importance in the field despite a smaller body of research (Quadrant 2—top left).

Exosomes; extracellular vesicles; MicroRNAs

Exosomes and extracellular vesicles are essential for intercellular communication, and reference to microRNAs implies a focus on genetic regulation. The evolution of this topic reflects an increasing alignment with specific sustainable development goals (SDGs) over the years. The initial research focused on SDG 3 (good health and well-being) has expanded to encompass SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) and SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), showcasing the multifaceted impact of biomimetic research in healthcare (Fig.  6 a). The research trajectory into SDG 9 and SDG 6 suggests broader application of bioinspired technologies beyond healthcare, potentially influencing sustainable industrial processes and water treatment technologies, respectively.

The word cloud (Fig.  6 b) underscores the central role of 'Extracellular Vesicles' and 'Exosomes' as platforms for 'Targeted Drug Delivery' and 'Nanocarrier' systems, which are key innovations in medical biotechnology. The prominence of terms such as 'Bioinspired', 'Biomimetic', 'Liposome', and 'Gold Nanoparticle' illustrates the inspiration drawn from biological systems for developing advanced materials and delivery mechanisms. These key phrases indicate significant advancements in 'Controlled Drug Delivery Systems', 'Cancer Chemotherapy', and 'Molecular Imaging', which have contributed to improved diagnostics and treatment options, consistent with the objectives of SDG 3.

The work by Jang et al. 53 , which introduced bioinspired exosome-mimetic nanovesicles for improved drug delivery to tumor tissues, is one of the most cited articles. These nanovesicles, which resemble exosomes but have higher creation yields, target cells and slow the growth of tumors in a promising way. Yong et al.'s 54 work presented an effective drug carrier for targeted cancer chemotherapy, focusing on biocompatible tumor cell-exocytosed exosome-biomimetic porous silicon nanoparticles. A paper by Cheng et al. 55 discussed the difficulties in delivering proteins intracellularly. This study suggested a biomimetic nanoparticle platform that uses extracellular vesicle membranes and metal–organic frameworks. These highly cited studies highlight the importance of biomimetic techniques in improving drug delivery systems for improved therapeutic interventions.

Nanogenerators; piezoelectric; energy harvesting

This topic advises concentrating on technology for energy harvesting, especially for those that use piezoelectric materials and nanogenerators. We see a rising focus on medical applications of biomimetics, from diagnostics to energy harvesting mimicking biological systems.

The evolution of this research topic reflects a broader contribution to the SDGs by not only addressing healthcare needs but also by promoting sustainable energy practices and supporting resilient infrastructure through biomimetic innovation (Fig.  7 a). Initially, the emphasis on SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) suggested the early application of biomimetic principles in healthcare, particularly in medical devices and diagnostics leveraging piezoelectric effects. Over time, the transition toward SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) indicates an expansion of bioinspired technologies into sustainable energy solutions and industrial applications. Nanogenerators and energy harvesting techniques draw inspiration from biological processes and structures, aiming to optimize energy efficiency and contribute to clean energy initiatives.

The word cloud in Fig.  7 b emphasizes key phrases such as 'Piezoelectric', 'Energy Harvesting', 'Tactile Sensor', 'Triboelectricity', and 'Nanogenerators', highlighting the core technologies that are being developed. These terms, along with 'Bioinspired', 'Wearable Electronic Devices', and 'Energy Conversion Efficiency', illustrate the convergence of natural principles with advanced material science to create innovative solutions for energy generation and sensor technology.

Yang et al.'s 56 study in Advanced Materials presented the first triboelectrification-based bionic membrane sensor. Wearable medical monitoring and biometric authentication systems will find new uses for this sensor since it allows self-powered physiological and behavioral measurements, such as noninvasive human health evaluation, anti-interference throat voice recording, and multimodal biometric authentication. A thorough analysis of the state-of-the-art in piezoelectric energy harvesting was presented by Sezer and Koç 57 . This article addresses the fundamentals, components, and uses of piezoelectric generators, highlighting their development, drawbacks, and prospects. It also predicts a time when piezoelectric technology will power many electronics. The 2021 paper by Zhao et al. 58 examines the use of cellulose-based materials in flexible electronics. This section describes the benefits of these materials and the latest developments in intelligent electronic device creation, including biomimetic electronic skins, optoelectronics, sensors, and optoelectronic devices. This review sheds light on the possible drawbacks and opportunities for wearable technology and bioelectronic systems based on cellulose.

Leading edge of biomimetic sensing and electronics

This quadrant represents topics with both a high number of publications and a prominence percentile, indicating well-established and influential research areas (Quadrant 3—top right).

Strain sensor; flexible electronics; sensor

Figure  8 a highlights the progress of research on bioinspired innovations, particularly in the development of strain sensors and flexible electronics for adaptive sensing technologies. Initially, concentrated on health applications aligned with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), the focus has expanded. The integration of SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) indicates a shift toward industrial applications, while the incorporation of SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) suggests a commitment to energy-efficient solutions. Additionally, the mention of SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) reflects the broadening scope to include urban sustainability and eco-friendly manufacturing practices.

Figure  8 b provides insight into the key phrases associated with this research topic, highlighting terms such as 'Bioinspired', 'Self-healing', 'Wearable Electronic Devices', 'Flexible Electronics', and 'Pressure Sensor'. These key phrases speak to the innovative approaches for creating sensors and electronics that are not only inspired by biological systems but also capable of seamlessly integrating human activity and environmental needs. The mention of 'Wearable Sensors' and 'Tactile Sensor' indicates a focus on user interaction and sensitivity, which is crucial for medical applications and smart infrastructure.

The top three articles with the most citations represent the cutting edge of this topic’s study. Chortos et al. 59 investigated how skin characteristics can be replicated for medicinal and prosthetic uses. Kim et al. 60 focused on creating ultrathin silicon nanoribbon sensors for smart prosthetic skin, opening up new possibilities for bionic systems with many sensors. A bioinspired microhairy sensor for ultraconformability on nonflat surfaces was introduced in Pang et al.'s 61 article, which significantly improved signal-to-noise ratios for accurate physiological measurements.

Cancer; photoacoustics; theranostic nanomedicine

Modern technologies such as photoacoustics, theranostic nanomedicine, and cancer research suggest that novel cancer diagnosis and therapy methods are highly needed. Figure  9 a traces the research focus that has evolved across various SDGs over time, commencing with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), which is indicative of the central role of health in biomimetic research. It then extends into SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), illustrating the cross-disciplinary applications of biomimetic technologies from healthcare to the energy and industrial sectors.

Figure  9 b provides a snapshot of the prominent keywords within this research theme, featuring terms such as “photodynamic therapy”, “photothermal chemotherapy”, “nanocarrier”, and “controlled drug delivery”. These terms underscore the innovative therapeutic strategies that mimic biological mechanisms for targeted cancer treatment. 'Bioinspired' and 'Biomimetic Synthesis' reflect the approach of deriving design principles from natural systems for the development of advanced materials and medical devices. 'Theranostic nanomedicine' integrates diagnosis and therapy, demonstrating a trend toward personalized and precision medicine.

A study conducted by Yu et al. 62 presented a novel approach for synergistic chemiexcited photodynamic-starvation therapy against metastatic tumors: a biomimetic nanoreactor, or bio-NR. Bio-NRs use hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles to catalyze the conversion of glucose to hydrogen peroxide for starvation therapy while also producing singlet oxygen for photodynamic therapy. Bio-NR is promising for treating cancer metastasis because its coating on cancer cells improves its biological qualities. Yang et al.'s 63 study focused on a biocompatible Gd-integrated CuS nanotheranostic agent created via a biomimetic approach. This drug has low systemic side effects and good photothermal conversion efficiency, making it suitable for skin cancer therapy. It also performs well in imaging. The ultrasmall copper sulfide nanoparticles generated within ferritin nanocages are described in Wang et al.’s 64 publication. This work highlights the possibility of photoacoustic imaging-guided photothermal therapy with improved therapeutic efficiency and biocompatibility. These highly referenced articles highlight the significance of biomimetic techniques in furthering nanotheranostics and cancer therapy.

Established biomimetic foundations

Here, there are topics with a greater number of publications but a lower prominence percentile, which may imply areas where there has been significant research but that may be waning in influence or undergoing a shift in focus (Quadrant 4—bottom right).

Metaheuristics; Fireflies; Chiroptera

This topic is a fascinating mix of subjects. Using Firefly and Chiroptera in metaheuristic optimization algorithms provides a bioinspired method for resolving challenging issues. The thematic progression of research papers suggests the maturation of biomimetic disciplines that resonate with several SDGs (Fig.  10 a). The shift from initially aligning with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) extends to intersecting with goals such as SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). This diversification reflects the expansive utility of biomimetic approaches, from health applications to broader environmental and societal challenges.

The top keyphrases, such as 'Swarm Intelligence', 'Global Optimization', 'Cuckoo Search Algorithm', and 'Particle Swarm Optimization', are shown in Fig.  10 b highlights the utilization of nature-inspired algorithms for solving complex optimization problems. These terms, along with the 'Firefly Algorithm' and 'Bat Algorithm', underscore the transition of natural phenomena into computational algorithms that mimic the behavioral patterns of biological organisms, offering robust solutions in various fields, including resource management, logistics, and engineering design.

The three highly referenced metaheuristic publications centered around the “Moth Flame Optimization (MFO),” Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA),” and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA).” The WOA, authored by Mirjalili and Lewis 65 , is a competitive solution for mathematical optimization and structural design issues because it emulates the social behavior of humpback whales. Inspired by the swarming behavior of salps, Mirjalili et al. 66 introduced the SSA and multiobjective SSA. This shows how well they function in optimizing a variety of engineering design difficulties. Finally, Mirjalili 67 suggested the MFO algorithm, which is modeled after the navigational strategy of moths and exhibits competitive performance in resolving benchmark and real-world engineering issues.

Bioprinting; three-dimensional printing; tissue engineering

The emphasis on sophisticated manufacturing methods for biological applications in this field suggests a keen interest in the nexus of biology and technology, especially in tissue engineering. As shown in Fig.  11 a, the topic's evolution encompasses Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have transitioned over the years, including SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), which is inherently connected to the advancement of medical technologies and tissue engineering for health applications. This research also touches upon SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), suggesting applications of bioprinting technologies in the environmental sustainability and energy sectors. The progression toward SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) reflects a broader impact, where biomimetic principles are applied to foster innovation in industrial processes and contribute to the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems.

Key phrases emerging from the word cloud in Fig.  11 b, such as “Hydrogel”, “Biofabrication”, “Tissue Scaffold”, and “Regenerative Medicine”, highlight the specialized methodologies and materials that are inspired by natural processes and structures. Terms such as 'Three-Dimensional Printing' and 'Bioprinting' underscore the technological advancements in creating complex biological structures, aiming to revolutionize the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Three widely referenced papers about advances in 3D printing—particularly in bioprinting, soft matter, and the incorporation of biological tissue with functional electronics—are described next. Truby and Lewis’s 68 review of light- and ink-based 3D printing techniques is ground-breaking. This highlights the technology's capacity to create soft matter with tunable properties and its potential applications in robotics, shape-morphing systems, biologically inspired composites, and soft sensors. Ozbolat, and Hospodiuk 69 provide a thorough analysis of “extrusion-based bioprinting (EBB).” The adaptability of EBB in printing different biologics is discussed in the paper, with a focus on its uses in pharmaceutics, primary research, and clinical contexts. Future directions and challenges in EBB technology are also discussed. Using 3D printing, Mannoor et al. 70 presented a novel method for fusing organic tissue with functioning electronics. In the proof-of-concept, a hydrogel matrix seeded with cells and an interwoven conductive polymer containing silver nanoparticles are 3D printed to create a bionic ear. The improved auditory sensing capabilities of the printed ear show how this novel technology allows biological and nanoelectronic features to work together harmoniously.

RQ3: Translation and commercialization

Biomimicry offers promising solutions for sustainability in commercial industries with environmentally sustainable product innovation and energy savings with reduced resource commitment 71 . However, translating biomimicry innovations from research to commercialization presents challenges, including product validation, regulatory hurdles, and the need for strategic investment, innovative financial models, and interdisciplinary collaboration 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 . Ethical considerations highlight the need for universally applicable ethical guidelines regarding the moral debates surrounding biomimicry, such as motivations for pursuing such approaches and the valuation of nature 75 .

Addressing these barriers requires interdisciplinary collaboration, targeted education, and training programs. Strategic investment in biomimicry research and development is also crucial. Encouraging an engineering mindset that integrates biomimicry principles into conventional practices and developing commercial acumen among researchers is essential for navigating the market landscape 76 . Securing sufficient funding is essential for the development, testing, and scaling of these innovations 76 .

Successful case studies illustrate that the strategic integration of biomimicry enhances corporate sustainability and innovation (Larson & Meier 2017). In biomedical research, biomimetic approaches such as novel scaffolds and artificial skins have made significant strides (Zhang 2012). Architecture benefits through energy-efficient building facades modeled after natural cooling systems (Webb et al. 2017). The textile industry uses biomimicry to create sustainable, high-performance fabrics 77 .

RQ4: Interdisciplinary collaboration

Agricultural innovations (sdgs 1—no poverty and 2—zero hunger).

Environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, poverty, and hunger highlight the need for sustainable agricultural methods to mimic natural ecosystems. This includes computational models for ecological interactions, field experiments for biomimetic techniques, and novel materials inspired by natural soil processes. Research can develop solutions such as artificial photosynthesis for energy capture, polyculture systems mimicking ecosystem diversity, and bioinspired materials for soil regeneration and water retention 28 . These innovations can improve sustainability and energy efficiency in agriculture, addressing poverty and hunger through sustainable farming practices.

Educational models (SDG 4—Quality education)

Integrating sustainability principles and biomimicry into educational curricula at all levels presents opportunities for innovation. Collaborations between educators, environmental scientists, and designers can create immersive learning experiences that promote sustainability. This includes interdisciplinary curricula with biomimicry case studies, digital tools, and simulations for exploring biomimetic designs, and participatory learning approaches for engaging students with natural environments. Designing biomimicry-based educational tools and programs can help students engage in hands-on, project-based learning 10 , fostering a deeper understanding of sustainable living and problem-solving.

Gender-inclusive design (SDG 5—Gender inequality)

Gender biases in design and innovation call for research into biomimetic designs and technologies that facilitate gender equality. This includes participatory design processes involving women as cocreators, studying natural systems for inclusive strategies, and applying biomimetic principles to develop technologies supporting gender equality. Bioinspired technologies can address women's specific needs, enhancing access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. Interdisciplinary approaches involving gender studies, engineering, and environmental science can uncover new pathways for inclusive innovation.

Inclusive urban solutions (SDG 11—Sustainable cities and communities)

Rapid urbanization challenges such as housing shortages, environmental degradation, and unsustainable transportation systems require innovative solutions. Methodologies include systems thinking in urban planning, simulation tools for modeling biomimetic solutions, and pilot projects testing bioinspired urban innovations. Research on biomimetic architecture for affordable housing, green infrastructure for climate resilience, and bioinspired transportation systems can offer solutions. Collaborative efforts among architects, urban planners, ecologists, and sociologists are essential 78 .

Peace and justice (SDG 16—Peace, justice and institutions)

Social conflicts and weak institutions necessitate innovative approaches that integrate political science, sociology, and biology. Methods involve case studies, theoretical modeling, and participatory action research to develop strategies for peacebuilding and institutional development.

This research provides a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted dimensions of biomimicry, SDG alignment, and interdisciplinary topics, demonstrating a clear trajectory of growth and relevance. Interdisciplinary collaboration has emerged as a pivotal strategy for unlocking the full potential of biomimicry in addressing underexplored SDGs.

While answering RQ1, the interdisciplinary analysis underscores the significant alignment of biomimicry research with several SDGs. This reflects the interdisciplinary nature of biomimicry and its ability to generate solutions for societal challenges. The analysis of two thematic clusters revealed the broad applicability of biomimicry across various sustainable development goals (SDGs). The first cluster includes health, partnership, and life on land (SDGs 3, 17, and 15), highlighting biomimicry's potential in medical technologies, sustainability collaborations, and land management. The second cluster encompasses clean water, energy, infrastructure, and marine life (SDGs 6, 7, 9, and 14), demonstrating innovative approaches to clean energy generation, sustainable infrastructure, and water purification.

In response to RQ2, this study highlights emerging topics within biomimicry research, such as metaheuristics and nanogenerators, which reflect a dynamic and evolving field that is swiftly gaining attention. These topics, alongside sensors, flexible electronics, and strain sensors, denote evolving research objectives and societal demands, pointing to new areas of study and innovation. This focus on interdisciplinary topics within biomimicry underscores the field’s adaptability and responsiveness to the shifting landscapes of technological and societal challenges.

In addressing RQ3, biomimicry holds potential for sustainable innovation but faces challenges in commercialization. Biomimicry inspires diverse technological and product innovations, driving sustainable advancements (Lurie-Luke 84 ). Overcoming these barriers through strategic investment, training, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical guidelines is essential for unlocking their full potential.

For RQ4 , the recommendations are formulated based on underexplored SDGs like 1, 4, 5, and 10 where biomimicry could play a pivotal role.

Future research could apply generative AI models to this dataset to validate the findings and explore additional insights. While our current study did not explore this topic, we see significant potential for this approach. Generative AI models can process extensive datasets and reveal patterns, potentially offering insights into biomimetic research correlations. The interpretation required for context-specific analysis remains challenging for generative AI 36 , 37

Our study provides valuable insights, but some limitations are worth considering. The chosen database might limit the comprehensiveness of the research captured, potentially excluding relevant work from other sources. Additionally, while the combination of cocitation mapping and BERTopic modeling provides a powerful analysis, both methods have inherent limitations. They may oversimplify the complexities of the field or introduce bias during theme interpretation, even with advanced techniques. Furthermore, our use of citations to thematically clustered publications as a proxy for impact inherits the limitations of citation analysis, such as biases toward established ideas and potential misinterpretations 79 , 80 . Another limitation of our study is the potential for missing accurate SDG mappings, as multiple SDG mapping initiatives are available, and our reliance on a single, Scopus-integrated method may not capture all relevant associations. Consequently, this could have resulted in the exclusion of papers that were appropriately aligned with certain SDGs but were not identified by our chosen mapping approach. Given these limitations, this study provides a valuable snapshot for understanding biomimicry research.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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A systematic literature review of education for Generation Alpha

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• Published: 15 August 2024
• Volume 3 , article number  125 , ( 2024 )

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• Alena Höfrová 1 , 2 ,
• Venera Balidemaj 1 &
• Mark A. Small 1  

Generation Alpha are the first to grow up immersed in digital technology and presumed to be wired differently than previous generations. This systematic review synthesizes the research literature on what has been learned so far and broadly answers the following question: What is happening in the education and training of Generation Alpha? The literature review was conducted based on guidelines outlined by The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Titles of 2,093 studies, abstracts of 603 studies, and 335 full-text studies were evaluated for inclusion criteria. A total of 83 studies were included into the literature review. The studies were sorted into four major categories: (1) the role of teachers, (2) the role of new approaches to education, (3) the role of teaching tools, and (4) the role of blended/online learning. Despite frequent use of the term “Generation Alpha” in the research literature, relatively few studies report generational differences that reveal how children of this generation are characteristically different from previous generations. There is simply a strong assumption that Generation Alpha is different. A major concern is that the use of technology by Generation Alpha has decreased opportunities for social-emotional development and increased mental health problems. There are digital educational tools and online strategies being developed and tested but none have emerged to be dominant.

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1 A systematic literature review of education for generation alpha

Generation Alpha has received a lot of attention by scholars seeking to understand how current advances in technology may impact their learning. The underlying assumptions are that Generation Alpha students differ qualitatively from students from other generations and that there should be corresponding changes to education based on these differences. To date, these assumptions have not been systemically examined, though there have been reviews in related areas (e.g., [ 39 ]). Accordingly, a systematic review of education literature is necessary to discover whether and how Generation Alpha should be considered by educators. The significance of this review is to guide future educational efforts designed to target specific cohorts like Generation Alpha.

The term “generation” can be used to classify people based on year of birth, age, location, similar values, and/or important events and usually spans about 20 years [ 47 ]. The first use of the term “Alpha Generation” is credited to Mark McCrindle who in 2005 coined the term to describe the cohort following Generation Z [ 103 ]. While there is general agreement that the Millennial Generation are classified as those born between 1980–1994, and GenZ/iGen are classified as those born between 1995–2012, there are some differences in the literature identifying the starting date for Generation Alpha. This report follows most of the literature which uses 2010 as the starting date []. Table 1 presents different generations and significant technical milestones.

Generation Alpha and those immediately preceding generations could all be understood to be digital generations with the only difference being the quantity and quality of digital opportunities that were available while growing up. All future generations will be considered true digital natives with Generation Alpha simply being the first to be so immersed in digital technology. For comparison, members of Generation Alpha are unlikely to carry a wallet or take a written exam [ 76 ]. When all members of this generation have been born, they are expected to number almost two billion [ 99 ].

Despite their large numbers, research on characteristics of Generation Alpha is limited. The assumption that Generation Alpha is qualitatively different than Generation Z is largely untested (Nagy & Kolcsey, [ 81 ]) and sometimes disputed [ 59 ]. There are very few direct comparisons between generations measuring the nature and extent of digital fluency or competence. Perhaps the only certainty is that for this generation, the everyday role of digital devices is not perceived as a “tool” or “instrument” to augment life, but as a normative and necessary means to interact with the world. This chief characteristic has important developmental implications, most notably in the construction of identity and social-emotional learning (SEL). Still, there are some research findings that suggest that Generation Alpha can be distinguished from previous generations.

2 Personal characteristics

In a rare study comparing generational differences, Apaydin and Kaya [ 14 ] identified characteristics of Generation Alpha from the perspective of pre-school teachers. Using a qualitative design with a small sample (n = 12) they found Generation Alpha to:

Exhibit behaviors such as being more curious, free from any rules, being more ill-tempered, more mobile and more self-centered than Generation Z; moreover, they also had high self-esteem, and they were more emotional and more conscious. In terms of communication, Generation Alpha was also determined to be more closed and behave more individually than Generation Z. Considering classroom management techniques, preschool teachers were found to use the reconstructive approach for the alpha generation and traditional classroom management techniques for Generation Z. (p. 123)

The above quote from the study by Apaydin and Kaya [ 14 ] is frequently cited in the Generation Alpha literature and the basis for most of the generation’s characteristic assumptions. dos Reis [ 33 ] found similar findings of cognitive flexibility and dynamism and inferred that Generation Alpha will be employed in jobs characterized by decision-making autonomy. This may lead to Generation Alpha being more entrepreneurial (Ziatdinov & Cillers, 2021). Similarly, Selvi et al. [ 100 ] notes Generation Alpha to lack qualities such as “loyalty, thoughtfulness, compassion, open-mindedness, and responsibility” (p. 273).

3 Family dynamics

Few researchers have examined how family dynamics such as family structure and roles of family members interact with Generation Alpha learning. For example, the research looking at family dynamics is almost exclusively concerned with marketing. The marketing industry is especially interested in how Generation Alpha may exert more influence on parental buying decisions because of increased media exposure [ 45 , 63 , 89 , 109 ]). In one study of 206 parents in India, the critical factors in the selection of educational toys for Generation Alpha were found to be brand recognition, brand attributes (e.g., safety) and product appeal [ 92 ].

4 Social media

The use of social media through mobile devices is a chief characteristic of Generation Alpha. The continuous rise in mobile internet use by Generation Alpha is blurring traditional boundaries between news, information, entertainment, socializing and research. Over 80% of parents of Generation Alpha say their children watch videos or play games on a mobile device daily [ 24 ] and on average spend 7–8 h on screen [ 111 ]. As early as kindergarten, children’s individual consumption of digitally streamed movies drives their classroom social interactions (Kaplan-Berkeley, [ 54 ]).

There are ongoing concerns that the rise in interpersonal communication through text will result in a loss of oral communication skills and that a reliance upon social media influencers to learn about current events will result in less critical thinking. Although there is much written about the potential and real harms of social media, there is little research from which to speculate how the impact on Generation Alpha will be different [ 38 ].

5 Social emotional development

The increased use of technology has resulted in a decline in opportunities for social-emotional development. Moreover, the increased use of social media has led to an increase in mental health problems as children who spend more time on screens experience more mental health challenges [ 112 ]. The potential good news is that because Generation Alpha are children born to late Millennials or members of Generation Z, these parents often spend more time and are more engaged with their children’s lives [ 26 ], 32 ). Thus, parents and other adults may be able to mediate harmful effects of social media use. In a rare study of adult–child interaction with 100 parents and children, Mariati et al. [ 73 ] found that “When social media and online games are introduced into a child’s environment, it has been demonstrated that they mediate their conceptualization of learning and cognitive development,... through the interactions between teachers, children, and technology, children conceptualize higher mental functions such as continuous and ongoing problem-solving dispositions, as well as language acquisition and social learning” (p. 95).

More research is needed to understand the optimal conditions to provide social-emotional learning opportunities with parents and teachers. Settings are also important. Schools also might be designed with embedded instruction of non-cognitive skills and opportunities for interpersonal skill development [ 67 ]. Not only schools, but also informal educational settings such as afterschool programs can be reimagined to provide more “edutainment” for Generation Alpha to increase social-emotional development [ 94 ].

6 Worldwide concern

There is widespread concern for the social-emotional and mental health of Generation Alpha and role of teachers and parents. In Slovakia, there is concern for the lack of emotional intelligence in Generation Alpha [ 53 ]. In Romania, based on the results of a previous investigation carried out in the same locations during the period of 2015–2016, exploratory qualitative research concluded that young children in Romania have a low level of digital literacy due to their parents’ and educators’ lack of technology knowledge and skills. Additionally, issues like online privacy and security are rarely of adults’ concern: parents worry more about their children’s eyesight and social isolation (Bako & Tokes, 2018).

In Indonesia, Zulkifli et al. [ 119 ] note “The results of the study [from 25 kindergarten principals] indicate that the role of preschools in the use of gadgets in digital native generation children in Pekanbaru City is included in the low category. Only a few preschools have organized parenting education for parents. There are almost no rules governing children's use of gadgets at home, and few preschools educate children on how to use gadgets properly. It is expected for teachers and preschools to add special programs in the curriculum to provide information about positive gadget use and parenting programs that discuss digital native generation and collaborate with parents to establish rules such as frequency, duration and content of children using gadgets” (p. 1).

In Malaysia, Fadzil et al., [ 35 ] concluded “This study showed that more than half of the respondents (parents and kids) surveyed felt very dependent upon gadgets. Parents need them as kids control, while kids need them for their pleasure and entertainment tools. They feeling the need to have their phones on them 24 h or using their phones every day. This will have caused them to feel anxious, disconnected, or even upset if they did not use and utilize it in their future and daily live” (p. 621). Finally, in Russia, [ 16 ] found that preschool children with prolonged immersion “in virtual leisure and limited social contacts with other people contribute to a decrease in the level of self-esteem and increase in the level of anxiety and social distancing from parents” (p. 11).

This review synthesizes the research literature on what has been learned so far and seeks to accomplish the following goals: (1) Identify the roles of teachers in the education of Generation Alpha; (2) Identify novel educational strategies in the teaching of Generation Alpha; and (3) Identify the roles blended or hybrid learning played in the education of Generation Alpha. There is a growing body of literature focused on answering the question: What is known about learning practices of Generation Alpha?

The systematic review of the Generation Alpha literature was conducted based on guidelines outlined by The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, updated in November 2021 [ 85 ]. Figure  1 illustrates the PRISMA review.

Systematic literature review

In November 2022, searches were conducted using the following databases and search engines: ERIC, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, ProQuest One Academic, Google Scholar, and Clemson Library (a search engine that includes Scopus and 724 other databases). These databases were selected as they include research focused on education, psychology, and other related areas commonly used in the field of education. The databases covered peer-reviewed articles as well as dissertations. Table 2 illustrates the detailed search strategy for this literature review and provides information about the specific search terms used in the specific databases with numbers of searched returned publications. No filters were used, nor were there language or date restrictions while searching the literature.

The literature search identified a total of 3,067 studies. We retrieved all the records and exported them as a Research Information Systems (RIS) file into Mendeley Reference Manager, where duplicate records were identified and removed from the searches [ 65 ]. Subsequently, the records were reviewed, and 974 duplicates were identified. After deleting the duplicates, we exported 2093 records into an Excel document for further review and coding of titles, abstracts, and full texts.

In the first stage of screening, the titles of 2093 records were evaluated to identify the relevant literature and 1,490 studies were excluded. Studies that were older than 2011 were excluded as not applicable to Generation Alpha (children born from 2010 to 2024). Exclusion criteria were applied to titles that clearly indicated topics unrelated to education of Generation Alpha. Excluded studies: (1) were in a language other than English; (2) focused on disciplines unrelated to education (e.g., finances, marketing, medicine); (3) focused on different generations (e.g., Gen X); (4) focused on school leadership; (5) focused on religious education or Sunday church schools; or (6) focused on homeschool education or family education. While topics such as school leadership and religious education other than formal education may seem relevant, the reviewed titles did not indicate any direct connection to education of Generation Alpha (e.g., they were models of religious education or leadership development and styles).

Titles that were included focused on: (1) education; (2) digital education; (3) digital games in education; (4) virtual reality in education; (5) technology use in education; (6) social media use in education; (7) language development; (8) employment skills; (9) generational differences in the workplace; and (10) labor market trends. Studies with titles that were not descriptive enough to apply the inclusion or exclusion criteria were also included for further review.

In the second stage of screening, the abstracts of 603 records were read to identify the relevant literature and 268 studies were eliminated. Because many titles of papers were not specific, an overabundance of abstracts were read to determine if they applied to Generation Alpha. Publications without abstracts were also included in the full text review to ensure that all essential publications for our review were included. After further review, abstracts were eliminated because they focused on: (1) different generations or different age groups; (2) different disciplines (e.g., medicine, investments, economics, technology outside education); (3) different types of education (e.g., character education, citizenship education, religious education); or (4) soft skills. Abstracts that were included focused on: (1) characteristics of Generation Alpha; (2) curriculum development; and (3) technology and specific teaching tools usage in education.

In the third stage of screening, the full text of 335 records were reviewed to assess them for eligibility. From this stage of review, 84 studies were excluded because: (1) the focus was on different generations or different age groups; (2) the focus was from different disciplines (e.g., investments, architecture, marketing); (3) the language of the publication was other than English; and (4) the publication was not available or was available only after purchase. During this stage, we sorted the studies by the country of origin, type of publication, original research, methods/samples, focal point of the paper (e.g., students, teachers, parents).

In the final stage of screening, the full text of 251 publications were extensively reviewed and 168 studies were excluded from the literature review. The publications were excluded due to the following: (1) lack of empirical research, such as being theoretical or without a data-driven analysis; (2) insufficient sections of the publications, such as studies that lacked clear analysis, had insufficiently detailed data collection description, or had an unclear method section that did not distinguished between empirical research and a literature review; (3) had a focus on different generations; (4) had a focus on non-formal education (e.g., out of school educational settings).

The systematic review concluded with 83 relevant publications that could be analyzed and coded for the literature review. We utilized an indictive coding approach, when the codes, categories, and themes naturally emerged from reading and analyzing the articles. The coding process was performed continuously, starting from the title screening stage and repeated throughout the abstract and the full text review phases. Codes were revisited and refined at each step of the literature review to ensure that the thematic structure accurately represented the data. The result of this coding process, including codes, categories, and themes, are summarized in Table  3 . Four major themes concerning the education of Generation Alpha emerged from the coding process: (1) the role of teachers (18 studies), (2) the role of new approaches to education (12 studies), (3) the role of teaching tools (43 studies), and (4) the role of blended/online learning (10 studies).

Publications came from around the world, with a majority from Indonesia (33 studies), Malaysia (17 studies), followed by the United States (11 studies). Figure  2 . shows the distribution of publications by country, darker color indicating more studies.

Distribution of publications by country

The four themes derive from research that was conducted from around the world and describe common points of emphasis to accomplish the following goals: (1) Identify the roles of teachers in the education of Generation Alpha; (2) Identify novel educational strategies in the teaching of Generation Alpha; and (3) Identify the roles blended or hybrid learning played in the education of Generation Alpha.

9 The role of teachers

If Generation Alpha is special, then the expectation is that teachers would be the first to be impacted by the need for innovative teaching strategies. A synthesis of the 18 studies that focused on teachers confirms the gradual impact of an increased technology expertise needed to teach Generation Alpha. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the research tells a story of how teachers struggle to keep up with technology, recognize the importance of staying updated and innovate to teach Generation Alpha. To tell this story, seven publications were from Asia, five publications were from Europe, three from the United States, two from the Middle East, and one from Brazil.

9.1 Teachers struggle

For teachers (and most others), the speed of technological advances generally outpaces the ability to stay current on the latest educational innovations. The gap between teachers’ and students’ digital competence is dependent upon both teacher training and teacher commitment to staying updated. Regarding teacher training, a study conducted by Galindo-Domínguez and Bezanilla [ 40 ] showed only a medium level of digital competence among 200 future teachers enrolled in educational degrees in universities in Spain. Once in the classroom, whether or not teachers use social media may depend on attitudes toward its usefulness. In a dissertation, Turnbull [ 110 ] explored reasons for the low integration of social media into higher education classroom assignments in the United States. Professors who integrated social media into assignments believed that social media is an important part of students’ present lives and future employability. Professors who did not integrate social media into assignments believed that social media is not relevant to their class and not useful for learning. These professors were also older and unfamiliar with social media. Similarly, Adnan et al. [ 5 ] investigated teachers’ content development utilizing innovative teaching and learning technologies among tertiary teachers in Malaysia. The results showed that after training, very few teachers created interactive learning materials (e.g., virtual reality) on their own. The results affirm the necessity of offering opportunities for teachers to master new digital technologies throughout their careers.

9.2 The need for training for teachers

In educational institutions around the world, there is a growing acknowledgment that teacher training needs to be responsive to the assumed growing digital divide between teachers and students. In Brazil, future teachers were able to identify Generation Alpha’s use and ease with digital technologies but also recognized that their courses did not sufficiently prepare them to teach this new generation [ 25 ]. Similarly, future teachers in the Czech Republic believed that information and communication technology could support classes such as mathematics and elementary science but reported that for their own learning, they prefer textbooks and notes from lectures rather than the internet [ 113 ]. Finally, Aditya et al. [ 4 ] found that although early childhood education teachers in Indonesia had positive attitudes toward the use of information and communication technology, the lack of technical support and training led to difficulties with integrating technology in their online activities.

Even if proper teacher training is possible, how to train teachers is an important challenge. In a longitudinal case study dissertation, Mullen [ 78 ] investigated teachers’ jobs, administrative technology, education technology, and self-reported educator self-efficacy from the beginning of their employment through orientation and the first 60 days of an onboarding process in the United States. Unfortunately, the results showed that the onboarding intervention resulted only in minor changes in teachers’ self-efficacy.

Can the presence of older more experienced teachers from other generations make a difference? In a dissertation, Teske [ 108 ] exanimated generational differences of Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials regarding educational and workplace values among American public-school teachers. Differences were found among the generations in work ethic, ability to establish positive relationships, utilization of technology, willingness to change, patience, and respect for hierarchy. Similarities between generations were found in motivation and types of leadership. In general:

The Baby Boomer generation perceived themselves resisting and experiencing difficulties when making changes . . . Millennials were identified by the other generations and perceived themselves as being flexible and open-minded to change, which was classified as a positive value. Generation Xers felt they aligned with the Baby Boomers’ difficulty to accept change, while the other two generations believed Generation Xers adapted well to change. (p. 174-175)

Overall, the findings suggest that it may be difficult to teach digital skills (see also, [ 60 ]).

As a model for understanding teachers’ preparedness, in Indonesia, there is significant national effort directed at measuring teachers’ capacity and competence with scientific literacy and digital technology. A national initiative creates teacher profiles through measures of a teacher’s ability to plan and integrate technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge for effective teaching to support student learning. Known at TPACK (Technological Pedagogy Content Knowledge), the framework has proved useful [ 60 ]. For example, Fakhriyah et al. [ 36 ] found that TPACK ability was good among future teachers and the factors that contributed the most to the abilities were the pedagogic component and the content knowledge component. Recommendations are for schools to improve teachers TPACK scores through individualized teacher training because group trainings fail to consider teacher characteristics. Following this recommendation, Churiyah et al. [ 28 ] evaluated a program that aimed to train and assist Indonesian vocational high school teachers in developing learning media and models that can accommodate the creativity skills of students. The results showed that teachers who took part in the program had skills in developing media and implementing learning models that support the students’ creative skills.

In addition to preparing teachers based on pre-existing competencies, specialized training can increase the chance of digital competence. For example, Karacan and Polat [ 55 ] examined the factors that predict Turkish pre-service English teachers’ intentions to use augmented reality in their classes. The pre-service teachers attended a training on augmented reality in language classes and a workshop to create augmented reality experiences. The results indicated that the pre-service teachers who perceived the augmented reality useful were more likely to adopt the augmented reality in their future classes. In addition, pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs also positively affected their adoption of augmented reality.

Training with the use of flipped classrooms had mixed results. Hashim and Shaari [ 44 ] examined Malaysian primary and secondary school teachers’ perception of flipped classrooms. Teachers perceived the flipped classroom as useful and believed it can improve their knowledge and skills. However, the teachers faced some challenges during the implementation, most of them believed that their students do not like watching short, flipped videos and they are not interested in the educational material in flipped classrooms.

Competencies other than mastering technologies are still important. Fauyan [ 37 ] conducted a study that investigated the roles and competencies of millennial teachers in Indonesia. The results showed that teachers had roles of agents of transferring the knowledge, managers, learning agents that created active and creative learning environment, motivators who encourage students’ involvement by using multimethod, multimedia, and multisource. Additionally, the following competences were found crucial: planning, implementing, and evaluating. Those roles and competencies showed teachers’ readiness in implementation of the latest technology during remote teaching in the COVID-19 period. In summary, there appears to be increasing efforts to understand how best to improve teacher competencies.

9.3 Teachers are Innovating

Teachers have been innovating and experimenting with new teaching methods for Generation Alpha with mixed success. In Ukraine, Morze et al. [ 77 ] examined competences required for critical evaluation of internet resources among future primary school teachers. The results showed that most future teachers have faced different types of fraud online and all teachers were aware of cybersecurity measures carried out at the national level. Most of the future teachers believed that critical evaluation of Internet resources should be developed in the computer science classes. The future teachers believed that the following techniques should be used most often in the development of future teachers’ internet critical thinking: project activity, effective use of digital tools, and collaboration in groups. Based on the findings, the authors designed a model of the system of formation of internet resource critical evaluation skills of future primary school teachers.

In another effort to improve Generation Alpha’s reading skills, Aberšek and Kerneža [ 2 ] examined Slovenian primary teachers’ attitudes towards an Internet Reciprocal Teaching (IRT) method that aims to improve students’ functional literacy competence when using the internet and screens. Research with previous generations suggest that paper-based reading produced better learning outcomes than screen-based reading [ 31 ]. Teachers believed that the IRT method is suitable for developing functional literacy in digital learning environment among students 9–11 years old and should be modified for younger students. There was an acknowledgement that there was no going back to paper-based reading.

Games and robots are also making inroads into Generation Alpha curriculums. Masril et al. [ 74 ] found that the use of robotic technology (Lego Mindstorms Ev3) as a learning resource by Indonesian elementary school teachers had a positive effect on behavior and was perceived as a learning tool that should be used in the elementary school curriculum. In Turkey, Akkaya et al. [ 9 ] found that most teachers considered themselves competent in using technology and they used digital games mostly in mathematics classes. Teachers believed that although there are many educational benefits, the usage of games could lead to physical health problems, communication problems, focusing problems, mental disorders, and excessive time loss.

In summary, the experimentation with novel approaches has some promising results, but there was no single innovation that has been replicated or scaled to an extent to be seen as universally effective.

10 The role of new approaches to education

New approaches to education are occurring at every level. Twelve studies focused on rethinking curriculums and programs for Generation Alpha. Five studies were from Indonesia, two studies were from Europe, two from the United States, one from Turkey, one from Algeria, and one from Kuwait.

10.1 Rethinking national approaches

In some countries, researchers are discovering how best to train teachers at the national level. In Croatia, Jukić and Škojo [ 51 ] conducted interviews with 10 information and communication technology (ICT) experts and 10 university professors to assess the future and integration of technology. Reflecting their orientation, the ICT experts perceived that teachers have insufficient training, their computer literacy is lower than students, and schools do not have adequate equipment. According to the ICT experts, teaching must be more dynamic and should be gamified as future occupations will be related to highly developed technology and artificial intelligence. The professors raised concerns about challenges associated with insufficient social interactions, problems of socialization, and insufficient development of social competencies and communication skills. In other words, social-emotional learning was important. The professors also agreed that the teaching process must be updated to be more interesting, teaching methods need to be multimodal with visualization of the teaching content, the teaching process must be more dynamic with active learning and interactive teaching, and the curriculum must be attractive with elective subjects.

When countries do innovate to meet the needs of Generation Alpha, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach. In Algeria, Sarnou [ 97 ] investigated the reasons of unsuccessful technologization of schools and universities and found the major reasons for the failure of an effective integration of ICT into the classrooms were social, cultural, economic, and educational factors. Specifically, there were deeply rooted regional differences in culture, politics, and financing within the country that made integration of ICT difficult. The ineffective integration of ICT was also found to negatively influence the relationship between teachers and students.

In summary, although a few articles depict efforts to understand how best to educate Generation Alpha, the results have not yet translated into national policies.

10.2 Rethinking language programs

An important goal in many educational systems is to improve language proficiency of non-native speakers and there has been some success with new programs aimed at increasing language proficiency for Generation Alpha. For example, Kadir et al. [ 52 ] examined the effectiveness of a 3 year foreign language program of Arabic-English-Japanese in three Indonesian schools. The language program implemented smart and creative learning methodologies with audio and visual gadgets. The findings reveled that the program created engaging and enjoyable learning environment for students. Also in Indonesia, Rombot et al. [ 91 ] developed a blended learning model for foreign speakers that gave the students the opportunity to repeatedly read the text and ultimately improved Indonesian reading skills. Finally, Shamir et al. [ 101 ] explored the effectiveness of the Waterford Early Learning curriculum, a game-based curriculum designed to promote English as a foreign language through reading, writing, and typing among students in kindergarten through second grade. The results showed that students that used the curriculum had significantly higher literacy scores than students who did not use the curriculum.

In summary, as more language curriculums innovate to take advantage of technology, there will likely be an increase of research that capitalizes on Generation Alpha’s presumed digital competence.

10.3 Rethinking STEM and ICT programs

For a generation that is digitally fluent, there is a natural increased emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and information and communications technology (ICT) programs in education. This increased emphasis has yielded research attempting to take advantage of Generation Alpha’s ability to learn. A quasi-experimental dissertation by LiCalsi [ 68 ] examined the effects of robotics curriculum on American elementary students’ attitude, interest, persistence, self-efficacy, and career interest in STEM. The results indicated that younger students in the treatment group had an increase in the measured variables compared to older students. Girls in the treatment group had an increase in self-efficacy and career interest in STEM compared to girls in the control group.

In another dissertation, Malallah [ 71 ] developed a computational thinking pedagogy framework with a virtual world environment for early childhood education. Using a developed STEM model designed to meet the needs of Arabic/Persian Gulf region students, the STEM program improved students’ computational thinking abilities. The study compared the implementation of the STEM program in the U.S. and in Kuwait and examined factors that influence female and male preference and performance in STEM education in Kuwait.

In a study aimed at second graders, Lucenko et al. [ 70 ] examined the effectiveness of an innovative curriculum design in a Ukrainian primary school. The design used project-research activities in the lessons and the teacher’s role was an organizer of the student project activity. The results showed that the innovative curriculum design was more effective than a traditional methodological approach.

Turkish gifted students perceived that a flipped learning model was fun, different, instructive, useful, increased learning, saved time, provided opportunities for practice, advantageous, and flexible in terms of in-class practices. The study also showed that there was not a significant difference in the emotional semantic orientations in the in-class practices between female and male students. However, there were significant differences in the out-of-class effectiveness and entertainment. Male students perceived the flipped learning model more effective than female students and female students perceived that the flipped learning model as more fun than male students did [ 80 ].

10.4 Rethinking other programs

Two studies fell outside the category of language and science programs. Akmal et al. [ 10 ] evaluated the application of a social-emotional learning model that involves collaboration with parents in early childhood education institutions in Indonesia. The results indicated that a program that aims to teach social-emotional skills in early childhood can be successfully implemented by teachers and parents. In another program aimed at teachers, Defit et al. [ 30 ] developed a Literacy and Technology-based Elementary School Teacher Development model that integrates coaching and mentoring. The aim of the program was to optimize teachers’ leadership abilities to improve the quality of Indonesian teachers in the current digital era. The feasibility of the program design was assessed by lecturers and school principals and deemed suitable for teachers.

Overall, the role of new approaches to the education of Generation Alpha has been to reimagine traditional STEM and languages areas and experiment with some non-traditional areas such as social-emotional learning. Although the cited research is included because of the link to Generation Alpha, there are likely many more relevant efforts naturally occurring with this population that do not operationally define their populations by generation.

11 The role of teaching tools

Next to the role of teachers, the availability of teaching tools (broadly construed) to teach Generation Alpha is the most important factor in understanding how and whether education differs for Generation Alpha. Tools were categorized according to whether there was some evaluation or whether they were in development. Forty-three studies examined a development, or a usage, of a specific technological teaching tool designed for use with Generation Alpha. Out of the forty-four studies, thirty-one studies were conducted in Asia (mostly in Indonesia and Malaysia), four in Europe, two in the United States, two in Middle East, one in Australia, one in Ecuador, one in collaboration between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Canada, United Kingdom, and Sweden, one in collaboration between Indonesia and Portugal, and one in a collaboration between Indonesia and Germany.

11.1 Evaluated teaching tools

Eleven studies employed either a pre-test and post-test or experimental design with a control group to evaluate the effect of the educational tool. The teaching tools that were used were the following: virtual reality glasses [ 93 ], Project Based Learning assisted by Electronic Media [ 95 ], Loose Parts learning media [ 86 ], learning media based on modules and GeoGebr [ 15 ], augmented reality pictorial storybook [ 69 ], QR codes as an Augmented reality [ 11 ], Six Facets of Serious Game Design and Ernest Adams’ Game Design [ 27 ], jazz chants approach [ 102 ], collaborative planning and teaching with virtual reality [ 72 ], multimedia learning environment Augmented Reality English Vocabulary Acquisition [ 114 ], and AsKINstagram [ 50 ].

Overall, the teaching tools were effective. Positive outcomes included improved drawing performance [ 93 ], increased motivation [ 95 ], improved science process skills [ 95 ], improved mathematics learning outcomes and performance [ 15 , 27 ], improved naturalist intelligence [ 86 ], increased anxiety in mathematics learning [ 69 ], enhanced student performance [ 11 ], improved academic performance in English as a second Language [ 102 , 114 ], improved vocabulary learning in English as a second Language [ 72 ], and improved students’ writing English as a second language [ 50 ].

11.2 Unevaluated teaching tools

Nineteen studies focused on a usage of a specific teaching tool without an evaluation of the tool’s effect. The teaching tools that were used were the following: Science Technology Engineering and Math-Project Based Learning [ 82 ], Virtual Reality technology [ 3 , 49 , 61 ], serious games [ 1 ], expected game-based learning for protracted waste problem [ 64 ], code.org [ 20 ], Minecraft [ 107 ], digital board game Master Malaysia 123 v2 [ 57 ], Instagram [ 18 ], Instagram interactive face filters [ 90 ], social media [ 116 ], YouTube [ 87 ], WhatsApp [ 105 ], interactive digital phonics show [ 42 ], voca-lens [ 117 ], virtual game using the Sphero haptic device [ 23 ], Chromebook [ 115 ], educational mobile applications (Nevřelová, 2020), and use of technology [ 98 ].

The goals of these projects were to increase cognitive engagement [ 115 ], increase phonological awareness [ 42 ], increase communication skills [ 82 ], increase engagement and entertainment [ 61 ], increase reading skills [ 107 ], increase computational thinking [ 20 ], enhance knowledge [ 57 ], increase language skills for English as a second language [ 116 , 117 ], increase motivation to speak English as a second language [ 18 , 90 ], engaged students [ 98 ], build children’s awareness of waste problems [ 3 ], increase early mathematic skills [ 87 ], increase early literacy skills [ 87 ], increase socio-emotional development [ 87 ], increase executive function [ 87 ], improve narrative writing [ 105 ], improve quality of life [ 1 ], and improve the visual-motor coordination [ 23 ].

11.3 Tools in development

Thirteen studies focused on a development of a teaching tool specifically to improve or capitalize on the digital competency of Generation Alpha. The following teaching tools were developed: argumentation-based educational digital game (Bağ &Çalık, [ 19 ]), game design activity [ 48 ], Android based educational games [ 79 , 96 ], escape room-based mobile game [ 13 ], motion comic storyboard [ 56 ], digital map application with hand gesture recognition [ 84 ], mobile-based learning application [ 17 ],Omar & Abd Muin, [ 83 ]), story digital book [ 43 ], lift the flap book digital media [ 21 ], lift-a-flap picture book with audio [ 62 ], and Edmodo-Based Science Module [ 6 ].

Those teaching tools led to improved mathematical skills [ 56 ], improved literacy [ 43 ], improved science process skills [ 6 ], improved language skills (Omar and Abd Muin, [ 83 ]), improved vocabulary learning [ 62 ], increased motivation [ 19 ], increased creativity [ 48 ], improved motivation to learn English [ 13 ], improved English language skills [ 13 ], increased interests in learning mathematics [ 96 ], improved historical learning [ 84 ], improved early reading [ 79 ], and increased interests in learning science among alpha generation [ 21 ].

In a rare study that focused on a disabled sub-population within Generation Alpha, Aziz et al. [ 17 ] developed an application to improve math skills for those with poor vision. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the mobile application was not evaluated. Given the benefit of new educational technologies for the disabled, it is surprising that more educational technologies are not developed [ 46 ].

Only one study acknowledged disadvantages associated with the use of technology in classrooms. A study conducted by Kurniawati et al. [ 61 ] focused on the integration of virtual reality into English vocabulary teaching in Indonesia. Teachers were able to incorporate the virtual reality into classes despite some challenges with device availability, workloads, teaching media, and classroom managerial skills. The students perceived that learning English vocabulary using virtual reality was engaging and entertaining. However, the students reported headaches from prolonged exposure to the virtual reality lens. Overall, the studies reveal technology being developed to appeal to students. The state-of-the-art of research has not yet focused on potential negative effects and how to overcome them.

In summary, the development of tools represents the greatest portion of the literature reviewed and reflects the ongoing interest in discovering how best to teach Generation Alpha.

12 The role of blended/online learning

The review of blended/online learning for Generation Alpha is a subset of a far greater research literature on teaching modalities. The literature review directly related to Generation Alpha produced ten studies that examined online or blended learning: five studies were conducted in Asia, two studies in Europe, one study in the United States, and two studies in the Middle East. The findings of the articles are best synthesized and sorted into categories describing the importance of experienced teachers and parents in improving experiences with Generation Alpha and describing some successes and some challenges with adopting distance and blended learning.

12.1 Experienced adults are important

During distance learning, parent–child interaction was an important factor that influenced the success of early childhood education in Indonesia [ 88 ]. To ensure success for distance learning, teachers in Turkey recommended parental support, active participation of students, use of Web 2.0 tools, gamification, and sharing information about training for parents [ 29 ]. Another study showed that experience with technology matters. Masry-Herzallah and Stavissky [ 75 ] found that older elementary and middle school teachers and younger elementary students had more difficulties than younger teachers and older students to transition to online learning during the pandemic in Israel.

12.2 Success with online and blended learning

Although the entire world adopted online and blended learning models during the pandemic, only a few studies used the term “Generation Alpha” in defining their success. Because the overall findings in the literature review are not driven by common research paradigms or common outcome measures, the results are specific to the researchers’ interests and relevant primarily within the context of the country’s education system. Thus, there is a limitation in generalizing the findings from the following countries:

In Ukraine, when teachers incorporated videos and online learning games, students perceived the online learning more beneficial [ 106 ].

In Indonesia, secondary school teachers reported that the best way to provide learning materials was through WhatsApp, Google Classroom and for some students, directly through the school [ 7 ]. In another study, Indonesian high school teachers reported that they used synchronous video conference platforms, asynchronous learning management systems (LMSs), and various learning media to help them conduct laboratory work [ 12 ]. The implementation of the blended learning when done in collaboration between Indonesians schools, teachers, parents, and students leads to more effective and meaningful learning [ 41 ]. Duggal et al. [ 34 ] found that Indian students were accepting the online education but there was a need to keep them engaged and enticed. The implementation of new learning methodologies such as gamified online education can help to overcome the online education challenges.

In Turkey, teachers reported the use of Google Classroom, Edmodo, Classdojo, Microsoft Teams, and Twinspace during distance teaching. They used these Learning Management Systems (LMS) for course and project management, flipped education practices, personal and professional development activities, and management of extracurricular and guidance activities. They described that the LMSs allowed to quickly follow the learning process of the students, allowed students individual progress, and the lessons were more efficient [ 29 ].

In the United States, Kingsbury [ 58 ] compared U. S. students’ online learning experience between schools that were already virtual and traditional in-person schools during the pandemic. He found that the virtual schools outperformed the in-person schools and parents were more likely to report that their child learned a lot during online learning.

12.3 Teacher and school challenges

The challenges to implementing online and blended learning as related to Generation Alpha fell into two categories: teacher challenges and school challenges.

During kindergarten distance teaching in Israel, pre-service teachers came across some challenges with communications, attitudes, tools, and technological skills [ 8 ]. Legvart et al. [ 66 ] found that Slovenian elementary school teachers experienced issues with students limited digital literacy competences which impacted the communication between teachers and students and among the students. In Indonesia, secondary school teachers experienced obstacles with applications, limited internet data, learning management, assessment, and supervision [ 7 ]. Similarly for high school, Indonesian teachers experienced technical issues and reduced interaction during learning process [ 12 ]. Finally, Turkish teachers experienced the most issues with the deficiencies related to technological equipment [ 29 ].

Schools also faced challenges and some research addresses how improvements might be made. In a study of middle-schoolers, Bruggeman [ 22 ] confirmed that “the micro-school environment, with an intentional overlay of a student-centered philosophy, personalized learning, and small mixed-age classroom settings, has a positive impact on the development of three elements of student agency: motivation, choice, and competency” (p. 220). In addition to redesigning classroom settings, a study of 500 elementary school students in Indonesia show that the increased use of smartphones and social media (YouTube, Google) may necessitate the reimagining of how libraries remain relevant [ 104 ]. Given the slow rate of adaption to change, even universities should start thinking of how to meet the needs of Generation Alpha [ 118 ].

13 Conclusions

Despite frequent use of the term “Generation Alpha” in the research literature, relatively few studies report generational differences that reveal how children of this generation are characteristically different from previous generations. There is simply a strong assumption that Generation Alpha is different. A major worldwide concern is that the use of technology by Generation Alpha has decreased opportunities for social-emotional development and increased mental health problems. Where research has been conducted, the underlying goal is to discover how educational practices may benefit with parents and adults mediating technology use.

Within the reviewed literature, no reference was found to any field of studies or organization of scholars focused exclusively on Generation Alpha. Rather, the examined studies reveal research to be the work of independent researchers focused on mostly practical educational strategies. Most of the research literature assumes differences between Generation Alpha and previous generations without systematic observation. An open question is how Generation Alpha is qualitatively different from previous generations. Therefore, future research should utilize theoretical frameworks to identify and understand the unique characteristics, behaviors, and traits of the digital native Generation Alpha.

The term “Generation Alpha” frequently appears in international research literature and is not commonly used in studies the United States. Future researchers might conduct comparative studies across diverse cultures and educational settings while using international collaboration to develop a more comprehensive understanding of Generation Alpha’s characteristics and needs. Longitudinal studies could help understand how Generation Alpha’s experiences and exposure to technology shape their identities, needs, career choices, social-emotional development.

To improve education for members of Generation Alpha and all subsequent digital natives, research might also best be focused less on children’s use of technology and more on the roles and competencies of adults and teachers to create environments that facilitate both digital and social-emotional learning.

On a final note, during the pandemic, out of necessity, schools use of novel digital approaches to education accelerated and there may be many studies published in the future which are relevant to Generation Alpha. As noted, this literature review captures only a small portion of the education research directed at this population as there are many studies that target this age group but do not use the term “Generation Alpha.” A primary takeaway from the review should be that experienced adults matter in the success of Generation Alpha. To be sure, there are also many tools and digital educational tools and online strategies being developed and tested but none have emerged to be dominant. Indeed, there is not even consensus on the best approach. There is still much research needed to produce evidence-based tools that can be recommended. What is happening in the education research on Generation Alpha is an increased recognition of their presumed digital capacity without a corresponding consensus on best educational practices. Future policies and practices would benefit from more specific research on how generational cohorts differ from one another in their exposure and experience with technology.

Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

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How to Manage Feedback Like An Olympic Athlete

• Michael Gervais

Six strategies to separate critiques aimed to tear you down from guidance meant to build you up.

Living under the weight of constant scrutiny and comparison teaches Olympic athletes not only how to excel in their sport but also how to effectively harness feedback for continuous improvement. Learning to discern which feedback to embrace and which to filter out becomes essential for not just surviving, but for thriving — and those lessons are equally applicable to all of us.  

While I was supporting the USA women’s volleyball team as a performance psychologist during the 2012 London Olympics, Nicole Davis, a key member of the team, opened up about the relentless feedback system that governed her every move as an Olympian: “For eight years, every ball I’ve touched or didn’t touch, every decision I made on the court, every hour I showed up in the gym has been observed and statted. It has been transformed into a measure of my progress, and my potential to stand on the Olympic podium.” Her life was a proverbial fishbowl.

• Michael Gervais , PhD, is one of the world’s top high-performance psychologists. His clients include world record holders, Olympians, internationally acclaimed artists and musicians, MVPs from every major sport, and Fortune 100 CEOs. He is also the founder of Finding Mastery, a high-performance psychology consulting agency, the host of the  Finding Mastery podcast, and the author of The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying about What People Think of You .

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Five things to watch in Saturday’s Seahawks-Titans preseason game

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – During the Pete Carroll era, there tended to be a lot of subterfuge when it came to the Seahawks’ preseason plans. Even if all signs pointed to the starters playing little, if any, Carroll kept to his “Always Compete” mantra and generally kept his plans to himself.

Maybe it’s easier to be more open about preseason plans now that few teams play their starters much, if at all, while using joint practices to get their starters needed work – as the Seahawks did this week in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans.

But Macdonald this week declared that Seattle’s starters “probably won’t play’’ in the Seahawks’ second preseason game here Saturday at 4 p.m. against the Titans.

That was before Seattle’s starters got what amounted to at least a regular-season game’s worth of live, contact snaps against the Titans in 90-degree heat Wednesday and Thursday.

Seattle’s starting defense also got two series last Saturday against the Chargers.

Macdonald pronounced himself satisfied overall with the work the team got in Nashville following Thursday’s practice, saying “the guys came out ready to practice …. The mentality (is) to come out and practice and be sharp and try to put our best foot forward and improve. I think you see that across the board, especially with the vets.’’

Titans coach Brian Callahan also said Thursday his team’s starters won’t play and that third-team QB Malik Willis will get the start.

“Obviously, two really hard, physical, heavy days of work for them (the starters),’’ Callahan said. “No reason to put them in the game. We got our controlled work here against their ones.’’

So, this looms as another backup bowl for the Seahawks.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons to watch, though.

Here are five that stand out.

More work for Sam Howell

Geno Smith likely got all the scrimmage work he will this preseason in the practices here, leaving the QB duties in the final two preseason games to backups Sam Howell and PJ Walker.

Howell also played three quarters of the preseason opener against the Chargers and put up credible enough numbers – 16-of-27 for 130 yards and a TD. He also got ample work against the Titans (including a final two-minute drill with the backups Thursday that ended with him throwing an interception to linebacker Chance Campbell over the middle.)

Of course, Howell’s numbers might look better if he got the chance to throw to DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxson Smith-Njigba. Only Smith-Njigba played in the first game, but after getting a lot of work here, it will be interesting to see if he plays in the game – any snaps would figure to be minimal.

Alternately, Howell will be playing against a Tennessee defense going with its backups – and that has a banged-up secondary anyway.

What the Seahawks will be looking for from Howell as much as anything is good decision-making and avoidance of interceptions and drive-killing sacks.

Tyrice Knight’s development

Knight, a fourth-round pick out of the University of Texas-El Paso, continues to work with the starting defense at weakside linebacker with Jerome Baker, who has been out the last two weeks, still sidelined with a hamstring injury – and no clear ETA on when he will return. Baker also missed the offseason program while rehabbing from previous injuries.

Asked if he was concerned about Baker’s absence, Macdonald said Wednesday: “Just the same mentality. Just get the other guys ready to go, and when he comes back, we’ll be rolling.”

Knight played much of the first preseason game, and while he got a lot of work in the joint practices, he could get some more time in the game as the team continues to try to get him ready if he has to play in the regular season.

“Yeah, we’re throwing a lot at him, on purpose,’’ Macdonald said this week. “But just keep on coming along man, keep finding new stuff to screw up, and you’ll keep growing.”

Backup middle linebacker Jon Rhattigan also missed the joint practices with a heel injury, meaning two of the team’s top four inside linebackers have been out – and the reason Seattle in the last 10 days signed Blake Lynch and brought back Easton Gibbs, both of whom got some work here as backup ILBs.

The backup running back battle

Don’t expect Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet to play – Charbonnet is also dealing with a back issue that held him out this week, though Macdonald said he doesn’t think it’s serious.

That figures to leave the early running back work to undrafted rookie free agent George Holani and second-year player Kenny McIntosh, who appear in close to a dead heat for the third running back spot – or could just compel Seattle to keep each of them on the initial 53-man roster.

Holani worked as Walker’s backup this week with the number one offense and McIntosh typically with the twos – which seems to indicate Holani is ahead on the depth chart.

But it was McIntosh who was with the starting offense during a final 11-on-11 two-minute drill Thursday, catching a pass for a short gain from Smith on one of Seattle’s eight plays on that drive. That seems to indicate Seattle still views McIntosh as a contender for the third-down, two-minute role. One big question about McIntosh is his pass blocking, something Holani did well in a few opportunities against the Chargers.

The sudden competition at right guard

While most starters may not play, the Seahawks could still give what is for now their starting interior offensive line trio some work as they continue to sort things out. Olu Oluwatimi is the starting center for now, but newly-signed free agent Connor Williams may start practicing next week, and Oluwatimi could get more work against the Titans to continue to get the second-year player experience.

Seattle also shook up its guard spot here, inserting rookie third-round pick Christian Haynes with the starting unit at right guard on Thursday, consigning Anthony Bradford to the backups (Bradford went with the ones on Wednesday.)

Haynes also played a tiny bit of left guard against the Chargers (three of his 41 overall snaps, according to Pro Football Focus) behind starter Laken Tomlinson. Bradford has been the presumed starter at RG after starting 10 games a year ago. But Haynes appears to be closing the gap and could get more chances to do so against the Titans.

Will a backup WR step up?

As noted, don’t expect Lockett (who sat out practices here) or Metcalf to play. Smith-Njigba and Jake Bobo also might not do much, if anything, having gotten a lot of work here.

That should leave a lot of snaps for players such as Dareke Young, Laviska Shenault Jr., Easop Winston Jr and Cody White to state their case for a fifth and/or sixth WR spot. One player who could miss out on that opportunity is Dee Eskridge, who did not practice here while sidelined (no specific injury was given), the latest setback for the 2021 second-round pick who may be close to running out of chances.

Ovarian cancer: How Amy Lindh fought a hard-to-diagnose cancer – and won

With the help of gynecologic oncology specialists at Providence, Amy beat cancer—and found the courage to accomplish things she’d never dreamed of.

Literature Review: Learning Through Game-Based Technology Enhances Cognitive Skills

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