DEVELOPING A TRAINING PACKAGE ON TRAFFIC BEHAVIOR AND DETERMINING ITS EFFECTIVENESS ON FIRST-GRADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN'S LEARNING

Children injury in traffic accidents is one of the major causes of death and disability and its prevention requires training. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of traffic package provided to seven-year-old children in Tehran.

This study is a quasi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest-control design. The statistical population of the study included first-grade elementary school children in Tehran City. Two Thirty-member groups from two classes in the first grade of a school in the district 5 of Tehran were chosen as samples. The participants were examined by a valid and reliable questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha .91) before and after providing the educational program about traffic. The descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance were employed for data analysis.

Research showed that the mean and standard deviation of traffic safety behavior of males and females was significantly improved in post-test experimental group. The difference between the post-test scores of traffic safety in control and experimental groups, as well as the interaction effect of gender and group on post-test scores for traffic safety behavior was significant. There is also a difference between traffic safety behavior of males in experimental and control groups and females in experimental and control groups. The results showed that after training in both gender, the experimental group outperformed the control group and the effectiveness of traffic training to children is confirmed.