| This study investigated the effectiveness of interactive technology in improving middle school students' food safety knowledge and self-reported food handling behaviors in a one-month intervention comparing two strategies, computer-mediated versus face-to-face cooperative learning. Variables associated with successful outcomes were explored. A pretest-, post-test, delayed post-test design with a control group (no treatment) was employed. Total number of students was 178. Instruction consisted of studying food safety with an interactive CD-ROM (dyads) and with a cooperative Jigsaw-type assignment (groups of four) with either printed materials or the Internet.; Pretest food safety knowledge was fairly good (7.2 ± 1.7 out of 10 points), although 22% of the students reported frequently taking risks in their food handling, and 22% reported prior experience with foodborne illness. Significant increase in knowledge after the CD-ROM study (5%, p = .04) was indicated for the entire experimental group (CMC in particular) with a significant further gain in knowledge for boys in the FTF cooperative study (10%, p = .05), but a significant loss for boys in the CMC (−12%, p = .04%) and nonsignificant gains for the girls. The one-month improvement in self-reported food handling behaviors was significant for both groups although the gain in knowledge was significant only for the FTF group. For the girls, both treatments resulted in improvement in self-reported behaviors, but only FTF in gain in knowledge. For the boys neither was effective. However, no significant differences in the one-month gain scores between the two experimental groups were indicated. Variables associated with learning outcomes included prior computer experience, interest in studying food safety, perceptions related to food safety, and satisfaction with the cooperative assignment as a helpful learning tool, all of which favored the girls. These findings indicate that CMC can be considered a viable medium for school-based health education in cooperative learning environments in middle schools with ample access to computers and the Internet. |
