Escape the experiment: a serious game for vaping education

With vaping becoming a bigger issue amongst youth in Ontario, there is a need for more easily accessible learning methods for educating youth about the risks associated with vaping. In collaboration with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, I have developed a point-and-click escape room style serious game targeted at youth aged 12-17 for learning about the risks associated with vaping. The serious game features a series of puzzles to be solved by players. A three phase study consisting of pre-iteration, iteration, and postiteration phases was conducted to evaluate the usability and learnability of the serious game’s user interface. The results showed a slight improvement to the overall usability of the game in the post-iteration phase. While results show promise related to the game’s usability, testing the learning effectiveness of the serious game was not performed due to ethical concerns associated with testing vulnerable populations.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MSc)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Computer Science

Grantor

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Daggett, Quinn

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kapralos, Bill

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10155/1892

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ontariotechu.scholaris.ca:10155/1892