Evaluation of the MOLLY OF DENALI Family Game Club

• In Event: Designing Educational Family Fun With and For Rural Communities Through Public Media Partnerships

Abstract

An outcomes evaluation was conducted to measure: (1)reach of the MOLLY OF DENALI Rural Education Initiative in the five rural communities; (2) parent awareness, knowledge, attitudes and practices related to use of the resources; and (3) children’s use of informational text and knowledge of targeted social studies concepts. A process evaluation focused on program implementation successes, challenges, and recommendations for improvement.

Evaluation methods included parent pre- and post-surveys, child pre- and post-surveys, the Games Checklist, parent focus groups, and child focus groups. Pre-surveys were completed by 217 parents and 206 children. Post-surveys were completed by 121 parents and 118 children. The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of pre-surveys distributed and post-surveys collected.

The final sample available for analyses included 193 parent pre-surveys and 115 post-surveys; and 190 child pre-surveys and 111 child post-surveys. Focus groups for parents (n=30) and children (n=25) were conducted for three of the five communities. Families (n=105) tracked frequency and enjoyment of gameplay on a Games Checklist.

Parent Outcomes
Parents’ knowledge and awareness of informational text was high at both pre- and post-survey. There was no significant change from pre-survey to post-survey. There was a significant difference in the frequency with which parents played games with their children at the post-survey compared to the pre-survey. At the post-survey 58% reported playing games with their children more than once a week, compared to 28% at pre-survey.

Child Outcomes
Children’s knowledge and use of informational text and knowledge of social studies significantly increased from pre-survey to post-survey. There was also a significant increase in how much children liked playing games with their families at the post-survey compared to the pre-survey.

Family Outcomes
When asked about the Family Game Club games, 87% of the children said they liked playing the games a lot, and 80% said they would play them again. Eighty-eight percent of parents thought children enjoyed the games quite a bit or a lot, while 75% of the parents said they enjoyed the games quite a bit or a lot. Most of the parents (91%) thought it was somewhat or very likely they would play the games again. Most parents (93%) said they would recommend the game club to their friends. Sixty-nine percent of children said they would tell their friend to play the games.

Overall, the MOLLY OF DENALI Family Game Club demonstrated many successes, including increases in children’s informational text and social studies knowledge, time and frequency playing games, and favorable ratings of the games by children and parents. An additional benefit of the Game Club was how much children and parents enjoyed spending time together. Children frequently mentioned that they learned about Alaska and Alaska Native culture, taking turns, that you don’t always win, and reading a map. Parents also appreciated learning about Alaska and Alaska Native culture. Specific feedback on favorites/least favorites as well as on individual game mechanics, will be used to improve the games for future iterations of the project.

Authors

• Elizabeth Christiansen, University of Nevada, Reno
  Presenting Author

• Kelly Morning, University of Nevada, Reno
  Non-Presenting Author