Background: Taiwan experiences typhoons annually and the heavy rain accompanies a typhoon often causes\nflooding and damage. Local decision-makers invest heavily in flood-prevention measures thus need to allocate\nresources wisely to minimize the destruction. As floods periodically cause tremendous damage to lives and\nproperty, passing on the learning of previous generations becomes important. Disaster education is therefore\ncritical in the region. However, the current disaster education curriculum follows a traditional education methodology\nfocusing on theoretical and conceptual knowledge and teaching. An alternative methodology is needed to motivate\nstudents and to deliver practical experience in disaster education.\nMethod: This study adopted a persuasive technology game-initiated-learning (GIL) and developed a Flood Protection\ngame to understanding the following: (1) studentsââ?¬â?¢ motivation for learning, (2) their ability to play the game, and (3)\ntheir focus on disaster topics. To evaluate their levels of motivation, studentsââ?¬â?¢ reactions were analyzed and categorized\ninto four specific expressions: discussion, question, laughter, and screaming. Studentsââ?¬â?¢ game playing ability was\nanalyzed and categorized into four stages: explore, aware, fluent, and known. Finally, the content of studentsââ?¬â?¢\ndiscussions and questions were analyzed to assess their interest in disaster education.\nResults: Studentsââ?¬â?¢ levels of motivation were found to be high (an average of 2.3 instances of discussion, 0.7 instances of\nquestion, 1.3 instances of laughter, and 0.8 instances of screaming were observed per minute during the game); their\nability to play the game was sufficient (79% of students completed the game having reached the ââ?¬Å?knownââ?¬Â stage); and\nthe content of their discussions and questions was closely related to disaster knowledge (73% of the 256 discussions\nand questions related closely to flood and disaster knowledge).\nConclusions: From this research, we find that GIL is a persuasive design in flood protection training. Students with low\nmotivation in conventional learning environments were triggered after playing the game. It enhanced studentsââ?¬â?¢\nmotivation to learn more about flooding. In short, the game does benefit flood disaster education, indicating that a\nwell-designed game may promote studentsââ?¬â?¢ motivation in disaster education and cause behavior change.
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