Fitter Critters: Classroom Pilot of a Nutrition Education Game (Games for Health 2012)

Classroom Pilot of a Nutrition Education Game

John FerraraDr. Kristin Schneider

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John FerraraCreative director, Megazoid games

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Agenda • How Fitter Critters came to be• Overview & demo of the game• Persuasion model• Pilot study

Challenge to create games that teach 8- to 12- year olds healthier eating habits

Virtual pets.  Real nutrition.

Games for Health 2011

• Got exposure to a lot of great work • Connected with researchers • Started learning about grant opportunities

o Foundationso SBIR/STTRo R01/R21

• Player is responsible for maintaining the health of a virtual pet

• Must shop for the critter's food, cook for it, and feed it

• Each day the player must fill the critter's green bars without filling the red bars

A quick demo

Unit plan for teachers

Persuasion model

• Games are a form of procedural rhetoric

• Procedurality makes video games unique as a communications medium

• Example: BANNED in Kansas!

1. Define a core message

A persuasive gamemust be designed around

a clear and concise statementof what you want players

to do or to believe.

2. Tie the message to strategy

Games drive playersto find the most efficient ways

to win. 

If the message representsthe ideal strategy,

then the process of playingserves as a proof of its truthfulness.

We built a tiered system of rewards

Better food choices

Health goes up

Greater productivity, more sports wins, sick less often

Earn more money

Trick out your pad

Social rewards

Pilot

• Preceded by usability studies • Worked with USDA to ensure accuracy of the data • Added quests to make it self-running • Conducted the study at an elementary school in

Northbridge, MA in November 2011 • Will be published in the Games for Health Journal

Pilot study• Middle school in central Massachusetts

– 5th graders

• Played the game for one week during health class (52 minute class periods)

• Hypotheses:– Students would find the game acceptable.– Playing the game would increase nutrition and activity

knowledge, positive nutrition attitudes and self-efficacy for healthy eating and physical activity.

Results (n=75)

Mean (SD) Mean (SD)t p

Nutrition knowledge 10.71 (1.97) 11.04 (1.91) 1.75 .08

Positive nutrit ion

attitudes

59.14 (6.08) 62.22 (7.74) 5.2

9

<.00

1Nutrit ion self-eff icacy 36.85 (6.51) 38.50 (7.64) 2.4

6

.02

Exercise self-efficacy 22.34 (1.94) 22.44 (2.33) 0.36 .72

Correct

responses (%)

Correct

responses (%)

�2 p

Physical activity

knowledge

40 (55.6) 30 (41.7) 29.73 <.00

1Sedentary activity

knowledge

36 (50.0) 34 (47.2) 16.34 <.00

1

Fitter Critters Acceptability• Scale: 1=strongly disagree & 5=strongly agree

• Overall average for scale=4.52 (SD=0.60)

• Lowest rated item: • I liked what the critter looked like (M=4.04, SD=1.28).

• Highest rated items:• I liked playing the shot put game (M=4.79=SD=.52).

• I want my critter to be healthy (M=4.78, SD=0.66).

Game tracking data (n=97)

Average number of game log-ons was 11.96 (SD=5.88).73% logged on at least once outside of class.

Students completed an average of 14.71 (SD=3.30) quests (out of 17 total quests).

Played an average of 86.41 (SD=114.06) sport games. Critter’s health

Overall health scores began at 2 and increased on average to 3.54 (SD=1.64; 5 point scale).

Percent saturated fat began at 20% and decreased on average to 15.63 (SD=7.63).

Frequency %

Games (shot put / foot race) 38 43.18

Buying food / Cooking / Feeding the critter 14 15.91

Health related / learned something 11 12.50

Decorating Critter's home 7 7.95

Earning money 6 6.82

Quests 4 4.55

Everything 3 3.41

Certain game features (having choice, having own critter) 2 2.27

Critter 1 1.14

Nothing 1 1.14

I don't know 1 1.14

What did you like MOST about the game? (n=78)

Future Directions

• Fitter Critters game

• School curriculum

• Environmental modifications

Future Directions

• “The thing I liked most about the game is how you…get to actually cook your food. I may not know how to cook in real life, but it's fun cooking in here.”

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