Evaluating the effectiveness of two instructional techniques for teaching food safety principles to food service employees

In this study two techniques for teaching food safety principles to food service employees were evaluated. The typical lecture format was compared to a computer interactive training format in terms of knowledge gained and retained as well any changes in participants' attitudes toward computer usage in their work environment. The results indicated that both methods of training provided significant gains in the amount of food safety knowledge the participant acquired throughout the process. It was determined that the computer interactive training method had some inherent advantages that could not be matched by the lecture format. These advantages included consistency, ease of operation, flexibility of scheduling, training time conservation, ability to reuse, and cost effectiveness. The computer interactive training format further was found to be acceptable by a wide demographic variety of food service employees. This study indicated that a one time use of a computer interactive training program did not effect the attitudes that employees currently held concerning the use of computers in their work environment.