The effects of educational computer game on low-performing children’s early numeracy skills – an intervention study in a preschool setting

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of an educational computer game, Lola's World, on low-performing children's early numeracy skills. Four preschools with 33 children from families of low socioeconomic status (Mage = 5.5 years) took part in this study. Of the 33 children, 23 were split randomly into two groups: an intervention group playing a numeracy game (Lola's World) and an active control group playing an early reading skills game (Lola's ABC party). The remaining 10 children served as a passive control group. The intervention phase lasted three weeks, during which time the children played the games daily for about 15 minutes. The children's numeracy skills were measured using the Early Numeracy Test. Those children (n = 22) who exhibited low numeracy (i.e. at risk for learning difficulties in mathematics) were included in the analyses. The three groups did not differ in terms of parental educational levels or home languages. They were comparable in terms of nonverbal reasoning and the amount of time spent playing. The Lola's World group improved its early numeracy performance from pretest to posttest. No between-group differences were found. The results are discussed in relation to providing game-based support for low-performing preschoolers.

Effectiveness of educational technology in early mathematics education: A systematic literature review

“…However, several scholars have stressed the possibilities of ET to also enhance motivational outcomes and efficiency outcomes in learners [27,101]. Although some studies qualitatively reported children's engagement and motivation during ET use [40,43,65],…”

The Number Race – computer-assisted intervention for mathematically low-performing first graders

“…In previous studies, only Räsänen and colleagues (2009) and Salminen and colleagues (2015) conducted their studies in authentic (pre)school settings as we did. When intervention studies are conducted in children's daily environments, it is challenging to control for distracting factors and get good intervention effects (Aunio and Mononen 2018).…”

“…CAI in mathematics for children in the early grades mainly focuses on basic numerical skills. To the best of our knowledge, the existing mathematics programmes and games that have been used in research-based CAIs for low-performing children in kindergarten and the early grades include Calcularis (Käser et al 2013), GraphoGame Math (Salminen et al 2015), Lola's World (Aunio and Mononen 2018), and The Number Race (NR; Wilson et al 2006b;Wilson et al 2009;Räsänen et al 2009;Salminen et al 2015), which is used in this study.…”

Data and supplemental material of the paper “Effectiveness of digital-based interventions for children with mathematical learning difficulties: A meta-analysis”

“…In Aunio and Mononen [3] two control groups were included. One control group is passive, whereas the other control group is an active control group trained in a topic other than math (i.e.…”