The proposed project will establish the technical merit and feasibility of producing and using a serious game to improve environmental health literacy among young people. A small evaluation is being conducted to assess the impact of the prototype game on environmental health knowledge, literacy, ability to understand mitigation, and impact on science interest and confidence.
Participants will be middle school youth, typically ages 11-15, who are currently enrolled in middle school. Participants are being recruited by the projects education advisor (CA) and youth community board members (MI).
Investigators will conduct an evaluation with 45 middle school age participants from communities disproportionately impacted by environmental risk. The goal is to test the usability and playability of the prototype and assess the games impact on outcomes. The participant will complete a short online pre-test assessment (environmental health knowledge), participate in either a 50 play session or a week long play period logging a minimum of 50 minutes. At the end of the play period the participant will complete a short post-test with similar questions to the pre-test plus additional questions about their usage, satisfaction with, and enjoyment of the game. During independent game use, the app will collect metrics on usage, player performance, and conditional knowledge including the ability to apply concepts in context. Participants will each receive a $100 gift card.
