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Assessment of Instructional Presentation For Emergency Evacuation Assistive Technology

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Date Issued:
2014
Abstract/Description:
It is often the case that emergency first responders are well equipped and trained to deal with a situation that involves evacuation of someone with a physical disability. However, emergency responders are not always the first line of defense, or they may be otherwise occupied with assisting others. This research examined the effects of instructions for emergency stair travel devices on untrained or novice users. It was hypothesized that through redesign of the evacuation instructions, untrained individuals would be able to successfully prepare an evacuation chair and secure someone with a disability more effectively and efficiently. A pre-post study design was used with an instructional redesign occurring as the manipulation between phases. There was an improved subjective understanding and improved performance metrics, such as reduced time on task and a reduction of the number of instructional glances, across three evacuation chairs when using the redesigned instruction sets. The study demonstrated that visual instruction style can account for a significant portion of explained variance in the operation of emergency stair travel devices. It also showed that improvements in instruction style can reduce time on task across device type and age group. The study failed to demonstrate that there was a performance decrement for older adults in comparison to younger adults because of the cognitive slowing of older adult information processing abilities. Results from this study can be used to support future iterations of the Emergency Stair Travel Device Standard (RESNA ED-1) to ensure that instructional design is standardized and optimized for the best performance possible.
Title: Assessment of Instructional Presentation For Emergency Evacuation Assistive Technology.
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Name(s): Boyce, Michael, Author
Smither, Janan, Committee Chair
Joseph, Dana, Committee Member
Hancock, Peter, Committee Member
Bowers, Clint, Committee Member
Wilson, Darren, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2014
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: It is often the case that emergency first responders are well equipped and trained to deal with a situation that involves evacuation of someone with a physical disability. However, emergency responders are not always the first line of defense, or they may be otherwise occupied with assisting others. This research examined the effects of instructions for emergency stair travel devices on untrained or novice users. It was hypothesized that through redesign of the evacuation instructions, untrained individuals would be able to successfully prepare an evacuation chair and secure someone with a disability more effectively and efficiently. A pre-post study design was used with an instructional redesign occurring as the manipulation between phases. There was an improved subjective understanding and improved performance metrics, such as reduced time on task and a reduction of the number of instructional glances, across three evacuation chairs when using the redesigned instruction sets. The study demonstrated that visual instruction style can account for a significant portion of explained variance in the operation of emergency stair travel devices. It also showed that improvements in instruction style can reduce time on task across device type and age group. The study failed to demonstrate that there was a performance decrement for older adults in comparison to younger adults because of the cognitive slowing of older adult information processing abilities. Results from this study can be used to support future iterations of the Emergency Stair Travel Device Standard (RESNA ED-1) to ensure that instructional design is standardized and optimized for the best performance possible.
Identifier: CFE0005136 (IID), ucf:50694 (fedora)
Note(s): 2014-05-01
Ph.D.
Sciences, Psychology
Doctoral
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Assistive Technology -- Human Factors -- Instructional Design -- Emergency Stair Travel Devices
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005136
Restrictions on Access: public 2014-05-15
Host Institution: UCF

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