Development and Application of a Nutrition Education Game for Preschoolers

Development and Application of a Nutrition Education Game for Preschoolers

This study was conducted to develop and apply a computer-based multimedia nutrition education program for preschoolers based on the Dick and Carey model of instructional design. The Dick and Carey model included 4 phases: analysis, design, development, and evaluation. The program's instructional goals, objectives, assessment instruments, content, examples, and practice questions with feedback were written in the design phase. To be familiar with the 5 food groups, 'Nutrition exploration' were programmed using Hyperstudio. 'Nutrition exploration' was designed as a five-session, interactive multimedia game, with each session taking about 5 minutes to complete. Nineteen preschoolers, aged 6, volunteered to participate formative evaluation. The effectiveness of the program was examined using a pre-post test design. Participants were recruited by personal contact at the individual preschool education center. The application was carried out during 4 weeks. The results showed that intervention participants significantly increased knowledge between pre-test and post-test. The results support using IMM (interactive multimedia) to disseminate nutrition education to the target population. This research provides the basis for continuing development of computer-based nutrition education materials.