Educational gaming and afterschool students' science and drug prevention knowledge and attitudes: A program evaluation report for HTF community drug prevention coalition conducted by Truman State University Student Research Team

Abstract

The Heartland Task Force C2000 Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition in rural Northeast Missouri purchased laptops for a local afterschool program and enthusiastically conducted a novel intervention for substance abuse prevention education. A digital educational game focused on science and drug prevention knowledge and attitudes was delivered on the laptop computers to at-risk elementary students in the school district’s afterschool program. After hour-long sessions for one day every week for six weeks, results of pre-post knowledge and attitude surveys noted the game neither significantly changed participants’ knowledge of science and drug prevention nor attitudes toward science and drug prevention. Results of the present evaluation study were inconsistent with other studies using technology in the classroom, possibly due to program delivery in the less formal afterschool setting. Because elementary students’ attitudes toward drug use become more pro-use as they get older, consistent teaching about science and anti-drug education both during and after school is needed.