Serious Games and Work Café for Adaptive E-Learning: A Pilot Study in Sustainable Mobility

This study presents an innovative pedagogical framework that integrates the Work Café methodology with Serious Games to support the co-design of adaptive e-learning environments. Building on a bibliometric analysis identifying AI, active learning, and gamification as key drivers of digital innovation, this research proposes and experimentally validates a hybrid protocol, tested within the context of sustainable urban mobility. The results demonstrate that the integration of role-playing and scenario-based decision-making mechanics significantly outperforms traditional discussion-based activities by enhancing cognitive engagement and facilitating collaborative knowledge construction. The pilot study, serving as a pre-validation phase, enabled the precise identification of critical technical requirements and interaction patterns essential for the development of future adaptive platforms. Furthermore, the study provides concrete evidence of the framework’s effectiveness in reducing participation inequalities and fostering students’ strategic thinking. Ultimately, these findings demonstrate the methodology’s high scalability, offering a robust and transferable model for designing learner-centered, technology-enhanced educational experiences across diverse academic disciplines.