Randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a video game as a child pedestrian educational tool

Pedestrian accidents represent a primary cause of injury among school-aged children in the United States. The authors developed a game-based educational tool and evaluated its effectiveness in teaching elementary school children the principles of pedestrian safety. 348 second- and third-grade children in Los Angeles (California) Unified School District were randomly assigned to participate in a traditional didactic session on pedestrian safety or to play Ace's Adventure, an interactive pedestrian safety-oriented video game. Following their tasks, the children's pedestrian behavior was observed on a simulated street set. The didactic group was found to demonstrate a higher mean score increase on pre- and post-test than the video game-playing group. However, children who played the video game exhibited appropriate behavior more frequently than those in the didactic group when exiting a parked car, signaling to a car that was backing up, signaling to a stopped car, and crossing the street. The authors conclude that game-playing and similarly innovative education methods could change approaches to injury prevention and ultimately decrease the burden of injury among children.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000000217
• Record URL:
  http://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Fulltext/2014/05000/Randomized_controlled_trial_to_evaluate_the.23.aspx
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/21630755
• Authors:
  • Arbogast, Helen
  • Burke, Rita V
  • Muller, Valerie
  • Ruiz, Pearl
  • Knudson, Margaret M
  • Upperman, Jeffrey S
• Publication Date: 2014-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 1317-1321
• Serial:
  • Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
  • Volume: 76
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
  • ISSN: 2163-0755
  • EISSN: 2163-0763
  • Serial URL: http://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Children; Pedestrian safety; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Prevention; Safety education
• Uncontrolled Terms: Video games
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01532442
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 31 2014 9:15AM