Immersive and Digital Approaches in Climate Change Education: Evidence from a Secondary School Training Program in Italy

Climate change education requires innovative, action-oriented methodologies to foster student engagement and reflection on sustainable behaviors. This study explores an inte- grated educational program implemented within the Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation (PCTO) framework in three Italian upper secondary schools. The program combined immersive virtual reality experiences, GIS-based image analysis, traditional in- struction, and two behavior-oriented web applications. A total of 181 students completed a post-activity questionnaire assessing satisfaction, perceived learning, prior knowledge, and self-reported intentions toward behavioral change. Results show that technology-enhanced and interactive modules were associated with higher levels of perceived engagement and perceived learning (with over 80% of students reporting at least moderate learning in immersive, GIS-based, and carbon footprint activities) compared to theory-only sessions. Modules explicitly linked to everyday behaviors, such as carbon footprint estimation and fast fashion consumption, were more frequently associated with self-reported intentions to adopt more sustainable practices (approximately 70% of positive responses). Given the post-only, perception-based design, findings should be interpreted as exploratory evidence of students’ perceived educational value rather than objective measures of learning out- comes. Overall, the study highlights the potential of experiential and digitally enhanced approaches in climate change education, while underscoring the need for future research incorporating objective and longitudinal assessments.