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BAXTER'S
KITCHEN
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a nutrition
education CD-ROM for 1st graders
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Eagle
Interactive
and CEREDIGM
Corporation
partnered on
the first
phase of a
SBIR grant,
which resulted
in the
production of
the prototype
CD-ROM,
"Baxter's
Kitchen,"
a whimsical
world of
interactive
exploration.
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The program's host and namesake is a "bear-like critter" who learns about good nutrition and helps teach
it to his pals. It features original songs, sound effects, dozens of animated cartoons, digital video, an interactive storybook, a video recipe book and a Food Pyramid game.
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This
prototype was tested in five Wake
County elementary schools. Students
were pre-tested on key nutrition
education objectives before using the
CD-ROM prototype; then post-tested
after playing and learning in
"Baxter's Kitchen."
This was followed by a retention test
administered two weeks later. The results
of the Phase I study overwhelmingly
support the educational value of using
multimedia to teach first-grade
nutrition. See below
for a brief summary of findings that
support the use of multimedia to teach
some of the key nutrition education
objectives presented in the
prototype.
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The
main menu and working title of the
program is "Baxter's
Kitchen." It is a
friendly, colorful, cartoon kitchen
where students are given the
impression that anything can happen.
As the program begins, Baxter enters
the kitchen, introduces himself and
briefly explains the purpose of the
program. He finishes by saying:
"Go ahead, click around, there
are lots of fun things to do in my
kitchen!" At this point, the
student is free to explore the
kitchen
and make choices. |
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On the kitchen table is a place mat with a picture of a pyramid. Clicking here causes Baxter to disappear from the kitchen with a poof! and transports the student to a sandy desert scene, complete with Egyptian pyramids and music. In the center of the scene is a giant food pyramid. Baxter explains what food groups are in the pyramid, what each group contains and where they are located. He also tells the student why these groups are organized into a pyramid: "Eat less of the foods in the smaller section at the top and more of the foods in the larger section at the bottom." During play, all of the individual foods fly out of the pyramid and become suspended around it. Students are asked to click and drag each food into its respective position on the pyramid.
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From
the kitchen students see an
"animated" Papa sitting in his
chair reading the paper. Selecting him
causes him to ask: "Do you want me to
read you a story? "Papa narrates the
book, The Day
Bax Bear Skipped
Breakfast. The main character, Baxter,
wakes
up one morning and decides he
does not want to eat breakfast that day.
We follow Baxter from home to school and
back again as he discovers how skipping
breakfast can result in loss of energy, an
inability to concentrate in school and
perform well athletically. The storybook
contains 10 interactive, full-screen
scenes, each allowing students to click on
Baxter for his responses.
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By
clicking on the Healthy Snack Recipe Book
on the kitchen table, students are taken
to a full-screen graphical representation
of a recipe book, with a video picture
window on the left page and a table of
contents on the right page. Upon entering
this section, a full-motion video begins
to play. We see kids having a great time
making healthy snacks while a first-grader
talks about the importance of eating
"five fruits and vegetables
everyday." The short video clip ends
by encouraging students to choose one of
the healthy-snack videos to watch, and
reminds us to print out the recipes. The
three recipe videos are: Frogs on a Log,
Satellite Balls and Nutty Dip.
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Clicking
on the kitchen refrigerator from the Main
Menu brings up a full-screen close-up of
the inside of the fridge, where the top
rack serves as a stage, complete with
follow spotlight. The lights come on (with
sound effects) and an animated Marley the
Carrot along with his sidekick Apple
Annie, start singing and dancing to an
original reggae-style song about eating
five servings of fruits and vegetables
everyday. The chorus says: "Every
day, Every day! Eat fruits and vegetables
every day, Some of this and that's O.K.,
As long as it's FIVE-a-day!" Crisper
drawers full of miscellaneous vegetable
and fruit characters pop open part way
through the song to provide accompaniment
and a gigantic number "5" pops
up over the "singers" each time
the words "five-a-day" are sung.
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Click here to listen
to song (mp3)
Click here to see
animated song (mov)
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THE RESULTS
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Multimedia
Study is a HUGE SUCCESS
A scientific study
conducted by Eagle Interactive and CEREDIGM Corporation on the effectiveness of multimedia to
teach nutrition, overwhelmingly supports the premise that interactive
instructional technology can change knowledge, attitude and behavior.
These results should ensure the continuation of the project for another
two years.
The Raleigh-based video production company and multimedia development company
together produced a first-grade
nutrition education CD-ROM and tested it in five Wake County schools as
part of a Small Business Innovation Research grant the companies.
"I have always read studies about the effectiveness of multimedia training
and education, but I was blown away when I saw the results first-hand,"
CEREDIGM President Kelley McNeill said.
"The post-test scores were amazing in their high retention
marks!" said Owner of Eagle Interactive, Bruce Wittman.
The SBIR program is designed to
provide publishable research that others can use to enhance product development
efforts, and to encourage growth of small businesses in innovative technologies.
CEREDIGM and Eagle Interactive President, Bruce Wittman, partnered
on the first phase of the grant, which resulted in the production of the
prototype CD-ROM, Baxter's Kitchen,
a whimsical world of interactive exploration.
The program's host and namesake is a "bear-like critter" who learns about
good nutrition and helps teach it to his pals. It features original songs,
sound effects, dozens of animated cartoons, digital video, an interactive
storybook, a video recipe book and a Food Pyramid game.
This prototype was tested in five Wake County elementary schools. Students
were pre-tested on key nutrition education learning objectives before
using the prototype, then post-tested afterwards. This was followed by
a retention test administered two weeks later.
The results of the Phase I study overwhelmingly support the educational
value of using multimedia to teach first-grade nutrition. Here is a brief
summary of findings that support the use of multimedia to teach some of
the key nutrition education objectives presented in the prototype.
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Learning
Outcomes
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Nutrition
Education Objectives
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Pre-test
Results
(%
correct response)
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Post-test
Results
(%
correct response)
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Two-week
Retention Test Results
(%
correct response)
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Able to identify
"5" as the number of servings of fruits and vegetables that should
be eaten daily
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7
%
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89
%
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81
%
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Able to identify
"loss of energy" as a result of not eating breakfast
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0%
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74
%
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59
%
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Able to identify
a "fruit" or "vegetable" as a fun snack
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7
%
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74
%
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78
%
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Able to identify
the "fats", "oils" and "sweets" section of the Food Pyramid as the
group to eat the least of
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48%
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93%
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93%
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Although
we had not anticipated any behavioral manifestations as a result of
the study, retention testing indicated positive, short-term behavior modification,
which occurred during the two-week period following implementation of the
prototype. All but one of the children took the healthy snack recipes home
and 44% had tried making at least one of the recipes. Our team relied heavily
on advice from UNC-CH-based research coordinator Dr. William Kalsbeek, and
the nutrition content expert Dr. Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, who is based at
Duke University. The Wake County School System also provided key support.
We submitted a 25-page study describing the need for multimedia nutrition
education and a summary of the results of its six month study as part of
its SBIR Phase II application. If funded, the company will receive an additional
$750,000 for research and development.
For more information, contact Bruce Wittman Eagle Interactive 919-779-7891 |
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