About the Project
The primary education dimension of occupational health and safety culture: educational health and safety.
This project, entitled “Development and Evaluation of an Augmented Reality-Supported Educational Health and Safety Module Based on the Context-Based REACT Strategy for 3rd and 4th Graders” and numbered 324K299, is supported under the TÜBİTAK ARDEB 1001 programme and hosted by Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. The project started on 28 August 2025 and is funded for 24 months.
Rationale
Safety anxiety caused by hazards and risky situations is a form of behaviour that affects quality of life, achievement and performance and is engraved in our being at birth. The inclusion of regular and continuous working life has brought certain risks and hazards with it; in working life these are addressed through the concept of occupational health and safety (OHS).
Although OHS may appear to be a phenomenon of the adult world, before becoming adults and entering working life individuals encounter different hazards — and risks arising from them — during infancy, childhood and youth: at home, in parks, gardens and playgrounds, outdoors, on the way to school and inside the school. It is important for children to be aware of these hazards and risks so that they can recognise and cope with the different types of risk they may encounter throughout their future working lives.
Having the knowledge and skills required to recognise and cope with risks is defined as occupational health and safety culture. Turkey is the country with the highest number of deaths per 100,000 people in Europe as a result of OHS-related risks, which indicates that OHS must be addressed at national level and that policies need to be produced.
In this research, the primary education dimension of OHS is addressed as educational health and safety (ESG), which refers to protecting children from all kinds of risky situations on the way to school, at school and around the school.
What is being developed?
Based on this, the research develops an augmented reality (AR) supported educational health and safety module (ESG-AG) based on the context-based REACT strategy for third and fourth grade primary school students. With the ESG-AG module, students encounter problems likely to arise in daily life — both inside and outside the classroom — and discover solutions by experiencing them through augmented reality applications. This protects students from risks in the school environment while also contributing to the development of an ESG culture that will help them cope with risks in their future lives.
Project objectives
Objectives
- To determine teachers’ views on ESG practices in schools
- To determine OHS specialists’ views on ESG practices in schools
- To identify the design characteristics of the ESG-AG module to be used in developing primary school students’ ESG culture
- To examine the effect of the ESG-AG module on 3rd and 4th grade students’ ESG academic achievement and ESG culture
Research questions
- What are teachers’ views on ESG in schools?
- What are OHS specialists’ views on ESG in schools?
- What are the design characteristics of the ESG-AG module?
- Does the ESG-AG module have a significant effect on 3rd and 4th grade students’ (a) ESG academic achievement and (b) ESG culture level?
Risk areas covered
Activities are prepared by considering the risks most frequently encountered — and most likely to be encountered — in schools.
Fire
Fire hazards, prevention and response
Physical risks
Noise, lighting, pressure, radiation, vibration, thermal comfort
Chemical risks
Exposure to dust, smoke, gas and similar substances
Biological risks
Fungi, viruses, bacteria and hygiene conditions
Natural disasters
Earthquake, flood, storm and disaster preparedness
Indoor school risks
Health and safety in classrooms, canteens and corridors
Outdoor school risks
Safety on the way to school, playgrounds, car parks and the schoolyard
Signage and protection
Warning signs, markings and personal protective equipment
The research consists of two parts
1. Design-Based Research
Analysis, design and development/improvement steps are followed cyclically to develop the ESG-AG module. Teacher and OHS specialist views are collected, a feasibility study of schools’ technological facilities is carried out, and the module is finalised through pilot implementations.
2. Experimental Research
A one-group pre-test–post-test design is used to apply the module to the target group and test its effectiveness. The experimental implementation lasts six weeks and is planned with a total of 60 students from the 3rd and 4th grades.
Data collection instruments
| Instrument | Purpose | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| ESG Academic Achievement Test | To determine the effect of the module on ESG academic achievement | Four-option multiple choice; item difficulty and discrimination analyses, KR-20 reliability coefficient |
| ESG Culture Scale | To determine primary school students’ level of ESG culture | 3-point Likert; exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Alpha and Omega reliability coefficients |
| Teacher and OHS Specialist Interview Forms | To identify risks and needs in schools | Semi-structured; developed through expert and target-group review, analysed by content analysis |
| Think-Aloud Protocol | To determine students’ user experience during the pilot implementation | Used to improve the components of the module |
Firsts achieved by this project
ESG education
Educational health and safety education will be delivered in primary schools in Turkey for the first time.
Teacher handbook
The first teacher handbook on ESG will be prepared and made available to teachers after the project.
ESG culture scale
The first ESG culture scale covering occupational health and safety topics for children will be developed.
AR for ESG
AR technology will be used for the first time to develop primary school students’ ESG achievement and culture.
