Effectiveness of Serious Games for Safety Training: A Mixed Method Study


Kazar G., Comu S.

Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, vol.147, no.8, 2021 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 147 Issue: 8
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0002119
  • Journal Name: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Applied Science & Technology Source, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, Computer & Applied Sciences, ICONDA Bibliographic, INSPEC, Metadex, Public Affairs Index, DIALNET, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Keywords: Virtual safety training, Serious games, Training effectiveness, Mixed ANOVA
  • Istanbul Gelisim University Affiliated: No

Abstract

Effective safety training is essential to reduce the number of construction accidents caused by unsafe human actions. The application of serious games in construction safety is growing rapidly because serious games offer an interactive and innovative environment for delivering safety training. Thus, evaluating the effectiveness of such safety training tools is indispensable. However, most of the studies that introduce serious game-based safety training use qualitative methods for validation. Therefore, a gap in the literature exists in verifying the effectiveness of serious games by using empirical methods. In this study, we examine the effectiveness of serious games by using various methods such as paper-based assessment and degree of recall. For this purpose, we conducted experiments with a total of 42 senior civil engineering students. According to the mixed ANOVA results, students significantly increased their occupational safety knowledge compared to traditional training after receiving serious game-based safety training. The results also show that serious game-based training provides effective training that ensures the maintenance of safety knowledge acquired over time. Moreover, the game experience levels of the participants did not influence their safety training performance.