The Impact of Natural Disaster Training Software on Learning and Retention of Preschool Children in Coping With Natural Disasters

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of natural disaster software (earthquake, flood and air pollution) on learning and retention of the natural disasters knowledge of Preschool children of Red Crescent Society in Tehran.
Method: A quasi-experimental design (pre-test, post-test, and control group) was used to achieve the goal and test the hypotheses of this research.The statistical population of this research, was the Red Crescent's pre-school students in Tehran in 2016, including 2500 students. Out of this number, by the use of multi-process cluster sampling, 8 classes were selected with 60 students instructed by educational software (30 girls and 30 boys), and 60 students were instructed by traditional method (30 girls and 30 boys). The experimental group was trained for 8 sessions and 45 minutes in each session, by children's familiarity training software, with coping strategies against natural disasters (earthquake, flood, and air pollution). But the control group did not receive any interventions. The data collection tool was researcher-made standardized test. Its reliability was measured by Chronbach’s Alpha Coefficient as 0.71. The data were analyzed by the use of SPSS version 20 software and ANCOVA test (co-variance analysis) with significance level (p>0.05).
Results:  The results showed that the average value of the scores in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group (p˂0.001). Therefore, on the basis of this survey, it can be concluded that the plan of natural disaster training software has led to increase in the learning of preschoolers who were members of the Red Crescent Society against natural disasters (earthquake, flood and air pollution). Also, this training method has led to retention of learning (after 15 days) in this group of learners. It can be concluded from this survey that standardized training software can be used as a useful educational tool in learning and retention of natural disasters.