Progress 09/15/02 to 09/14/05
Outputs
Children are regularly involved in food preparation for themselves and others putting them at increased risk for foodborne illness. There are limited food safety educational materials available for children, and those that are available are based primarily on presentation, not instruction. This project was designed to create an interactive, instructional software program to teach the Fight BAC! principles to children. The modules were evaluated for functionality and instructional capability in six, sixth grade Technology, Life, and Careers classes. One hundred and thirty students participated in the classroom evaluation. Three classes learned about food safety using the modules with a teacher-led instructional approach while the other three classes learned about food safety using the modules through student-led exploration. The program evaluation included a pre-test and food handling observation, observation during program use, a post-test and food handling observation,
and a one-month post test. Results showed that teacher-led and student-led uses of the modules are equally effective instructional methods. Dissemination plans originally included enhancing and expanding the Fight BAC! website with the simulation modules and the teacher/leader instructional guides and the Children Fight BAC! Software through the Fight BAC! website. This objective was modified due to these unforeseen problems: (1) the Children Fight BAC! files were very large due to the quantity of audio on the program; (2) many schools have firewalls in place and do not allow software to be downloaded over the internet; and (3) The Partnership for Food Safety Education did not have the resources to provide technical support for the program. Other researchers may consider these limitations. As an alternative to the original dissemination plan, the program is advertised on www.lpsoftware.com and www.childrenfightbac.org. The learning objectives have been compared to US Dept. of
Education learning objectives for each state. A marketing brochure was developed and widely distributed by USDA. The program was presented to the family and consumer sciences conference in Utah. The program was recently nominated for 'Best Educational Software' and 'Most Innovative Software' by the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP). It also won the 2005 Distinguished Achievement Award for Educational Software in the category of Children's Science Programs.
Impacts
Eighty-eight percent of children are regularly preparing food for themselves and others. Utah State University, Safe Food Institute, LetterPress Software, and the Partnership for Food Safety Education collaborated to develop Children Fight BAC!, a series of four comprehensive, instructional computer modules to teach 5th-8th grade students both 'how' and 'why' they need to handle food safely at home to protect themselves, their families, and their friends from foodborne illness. One month after using the modules, sixth grade students had a 24% increase in retained food safety knowledge and an 80% increase in time spent washing hands during in-class food preparation activities. Based on these results, we can tentatively conclude that Children Fight BAC! is effective in improving food safety knowledge and food-handling behavior, although further research is needed to strengthen this finding.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
Objective 1: Develop four modules that use interactive computer simulations to: (1) instruct students on the scientific concepts underlying the four Fight BAC! recommendations of clean, separate, cook, and chill; and (2) teach students how to apply the procedures implicit in the Fight BAC! recommendations. During 2004, the design, development, production, evaluation, and revision of the four children Fight BAC! instructional modules was completed. The modules are entitled: (1) Microorganisms, Pathogens, & Foodborne Illness; (2) Shop & Store; (3) Clean & Prepare; and (4) Cook & Reheat. The four modules are equipped with twenty-seven activities that are used to assess student learning and enhance food safety skills. Students learn the four rules of food safety (clean, separate, cook, and chill) from the perspective of both microorganisms and humans. The characters gain and maintain learner attention by presenting the instruction, providing coaching and feedback, and
sharing a little humor along the way. Objective 2: Produce a teacher/youth leader instructional guide for each simulation module to show instructors how to implement the computer simulation modules in their classroom or group. To accompany each instructional module, an offline classroom activity and a homework assignment was created to provide supplementary opportunities to apply newly learned food safety knowledge and skills. These activities have been complied into a teacher/youth leader instructional guide. Objective 3: Implement cycles of formative evaluation for simulation module development and summative evaluation as a measure of product effectiveness. The Children Fight BAC! instructional modules were evaluated for functionality and instructional capability in six, sixth grade Technology, Life, and Careers classes. One hundred and thirty students participated in the classroom evaluation. Three classes learned about food safety using the modules with a teacher-led instructional
approach. Three classes learned about food safety using the modules through student-led exploration. The program evaluation included a pre-test and food handling observation, observation during program use, a post-test and food handling observation, and a one-month post test. Results show that teacher-led and student-led uses of the modules are equally effective instructional methods. One month after using the modules, sixth grade students had a 24% increase in retained food safety knowledge and an 80% increase in time spent washing hands during in-class food preparation activities.
Impacts
Eighty-eight percent of children are regularly preparing food for themselves and others. Utah State University, Safe Food Institute, LetterPress Software, and the Partnership for Food Safety Education collaborated to develop Children Fight BAC!, a series of four comprehensive, instructional computer modules to teach 5th-8th grade students both "how" and "why" they need to handle food safely at home to protect themselves, their families, and their friends from foodborne illness. One month after using the modules, sixth grade students had a 24% increase in retained food safety knowledge and an 80% increase in time spent washing hands during in-class food preparation activities. Children Fight BAC! is effective in improving food safety knowledge and food-handling behavior.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
The focus of this year was to complete the audience analysis and begin the design and development of the simulation modules, as outlined in objective 1. Objective 1: Develop four modules that use interactive computer simulations to: (1) instruct students on the scientific concepts underlying the four Fight BAC! recommendations of clean, separate, cook, and chill; and (2) teach students how to apply the procedures implicit in the Fight BAC! recommendations. Faculty and staff from Utah State University, the Safe Food Institute, and LetterPress Software collaborated to develop a series of task-specific, food safety goals and objectives with defined behavioral outcomes. An overview of the project was presented to the Partners and/or Members of the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE). Researchers asked them for careful review of the goals and objectives for content accuracy. PFSE Partners provided prompt feedback to the Project Coordinator and approved the goals
and objectives. The instructional design team (USU Project Director, Safe Food Institute, and LetterPress Software) completed a thorough curriculum and audience analysis to identify the 5th-6th-grade target audience for the simulation modules. Each week, the Project Director and the Project Coordinator met with the instructional designers to review scripts and artwork for the modules. Final scripts for simulation modules 1, 2, 3, and 4 have been carefully drafted based on the goals and objectives, reviewed by food safety content experts, and approved by the Project Director. Simulation modules 1 and 2 are complete. Simulation modules 3 and 4 are under development.
Impacts
Children Fight BAC! is a series of four simulation modules designed to instruct children both "why" and "how" they need to handle food safely at home to protect themselves, their families, and their friends from foodborne illness.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02
Outputs
A thorough search for and review of existing youth food safety educationl materials (including those developed by the Partnership for Food Safety Education, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, universities, state Cooperative Extension programs, and various Internet sites) has been completed. The materials are currently being cataloged for reference throughout the project.
Impacts
Children Fight BAC! is an educational tool designed to teach children both "why" and "how" they need to handle food safely at home to protect themselves and their families against foodborne illness.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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