Studying a pedometer-based fitness game for middle school students

Studying a pedometer-based fitness game for middle school students Platforms: Website, sensors Developed by Humana Games For Health and sponsored by The Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana Inc., the American Horsepower Challenge (AHPC) is a game that turns everyday walking activity into a team sport. AHPC addresses two trends: a decrease in youth physical activity levels and an increase in online and computer-based social play. As part of the Georgia Tech-based research team, I’ve been the participants in this competition over two school years by collecting step data, surveying stakeholders in the game, conducting focus groups and individual interviews with students and teachers.

I became active in the project in the fall of 2009, and helped conduct on-site interviews and focus groups. I am now contributing to the qualitative analysis of our interview data, and have participated in presentations of our findings to Humana. This project is closely related to my own research, and is helping to inform my methodological approach as I plan my own deployments.