Citation

Zare H, Niknami S, Heidarnia A, Hossein Fallah M. Transp. Res. F Traffic Psychol. Behav. 2019; 60: 734-742.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.trf.2018.10.021

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Child Pedestrians are among the most-at-risk populations for road traffic injuries. Our aim in the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of an active learning-based educational intervention on street-crossing behaviors of seven-year-old children. In this randomized controlled trial, 149 first-grade students were selected from two male elementary schools in Mehriz City, Iran, to participate in the study. The participants were randomly assigned into two experimental groups (n = 103, Active-Learning based training group [A.L] (n = 52) and Active-Learning based training with Parental Involvement group [P.I & A.L] (n = 51) and a control group (n = 46, without training group). The instructional program was based on active learning theory and parental involvement approach. Street-crossing behaviors of the students were assessed in an actual traffic environment in three phases: before training, one week after training, and six months after training. The behaviors of students in the experimental groups were significantly improved within one week, and later the six month time frames. Their performance was linearly improved by time (looking for vehicles on the street: F = 3.35P < 0.01; crossing from safe places: F = 10.5, P < 0.0001). No behavioral difference was found among the students in the control group. After six months, there was a better improvement (P = 0.0001) in the street-crossing behaviors of children in the P.I & A.L groups, compared to the A.L group. Our results confirmed the positive effects of active learning-based education with parental involvement approach on improving the street-crossing behaviors of 7-year-old children. Parental involvement is recommended as a useful strategy while designing active learning-based educational programs aiming at the improvement of street-crossing behaviors among school-aged children.

Language: en