Funding Period: 1999-2003
States involved in project: Indiana
Contact Information:
Roger Tormoehlen
Purdue University
1161 Agricultural Adm. Bldg
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1161
Phone: 765-494-8429
Fax: (765)496-1151
E-mail: torm@purdue.edu
The primary goal of this project will be to evaluate the
effectiveness of interactive CD-ROM multimedia and interactive
multimedia World Wide Web (WWW) programs to teach critical agricultural
safety and health topics to youth in community-based settings. The
selected teaching strategies will be evaluated for their effectiveness
in developing beliefs, skills, and behaviors related specifically to
the safe operation of agricultural tractors and machinery. The project
will build upon over ten years of experience by the staff at Purdue, to
incorporate innovative, electronic-based educational strategies into
agricultural safety and health curricula.
The following broad objectives have been established:
- Develop a community-based educational curriculum
based on Iowa State University's tractor and machinery safety manual,
"Safe Operation of Agricultural Equipment", to be covered in each of
the two proposed teaching strategies: computer-based CD-ROM
multimedia version, and computer-based World Wide Web (WWW)
multimedia version.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of these
community-based, curricula/teaching strategies at improving
attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, and safety practices of youth
concerning safety and health issues related to tractor and machinery
operation.
- Disseminate, as widely as possible, the final
product and strategies for incorporation into existing youth safety
programs.
The specific goal and objectives cited above will enable this
project to provide the following benefits:
- Provide additional evidence to verify the educational
benefits/disadvantages of using electronic technology to teach
agricultural safety and health topics to youth.
- Develop and evaluate new innovative educational strategies for
teaching agricultural tractor and machinery safety that will be
delivered using computer and distance learning technology.
- Enhance the quality of educational training materials being used
by the federally-mandated tractor and machinery safety certification
program. The current materials are revised versions of materials
originally developed over 30 years ago, and as such, use educational
methodology that is no longer current, or incorporate "recent"
findings concerning the effectiveness of computer-aided instruction.
The new materials will involve the user in the learning process
through interactive, educational, hands-on activities.
- The new, interactive educational materials will be developed so
that youth can learn in a self-directed, independent setting. Two
major benefits with this approach are that there is less need (if
any) for a qualified instructor and, secondly, an individual youth
can complete the training at home at his or her convenience, without
having to wait for a "critical mass" of youth to enroll.
- High quality educational materials on tractor and machinery
safety will be developed for use in other educational settings, such
as the non-certification-based 4-H tractor program, and high school
agricultural education classes.
- Farm parents/guardians will have an educational tool that would
aid them in teaching tractor and machinery safety to their children,
most of whom are not required to enroll in a formal tractor and
machinery safety educational program.
- The materials may be useful in teaching tractor and machinery
safety and health to adults with limited literary skills.
- The activities associated with the project will result in
additional graduate level training for individuals pursuing careers
in the field of agricultural safety and health.
NOTE: This document is provided for historical purposes only.
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