This evaluation study was designed to provide the writer of the books with empirical information about the effectiveness of the road safety education material being produced and about the ways in which it might be improved. The specific learning activities and experiences which the writer had designed for children of the ages five to thirteen were tried out with a small number of children in local schools, revised, rewritten and revised again. The field trials were carried out in 108 classes in 60 schools across the country. Data were collected on the teachers' and the pupils' reactions to the materials and on how the materials were used in the classes. Knowledge tests were administered as pre-tests and post-tests to both trial and control classes to obtain information about the children's progress towards achieving the objectives. The improvements made by trial children were of sufficient magnitude to be considered to have practical educational significance. Multivariate analysis was applied to the various teaching and learning variables measured in the study and this showed that some classroom process variables influenced the performance of children. (Author/publisher)
Abstract