Effectiveness of an Experiential Learning Program on Respiratory Tract Infection Screening Practice of Teachers in Child Development Centers

Abstract

      Respiratory ailments can greatly impair and threaten to life of young children. Two-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design attempted to investigate into effects of an experiential learning program on the respiratory infection screening practices of teachers in early child development centers in Sarapee district, Chiang Mai, with 12 early child development centers. The purposive sampling method recruited 48 teachers from these centers and divided equally into experimental and control groups of 24. The research devices included 1) an experiential learning program with power point presentations, video media, a manual, and a demonstration kit for respiratory infection screening practices; and 2) tools for data collection of the teachers toward an evaluation form for respiratory infection screening practices among children. Analyses of the data involved participants’ general information relying on descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and independent t-test statistics. The results revealed the experimental group after receiving the program had a statistical significantly higher average score for respiratory infection screening practices than that before receiving it (p<0.05). As well as the experimental group had a statistical significantly higher average score of screening practices than that of the control group (p<0.05). The research findings imply how to effectively promote respiratory infection screening practices by the teachers in early child development centers.