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Field
Abstract
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Before
While most children in developing countries now receive a primary education, the performance of primary schools is weak, especially for the poor (Banerjee & Duflo, 2011). Part of the problem is that many poor children are neither prepared for nor receive support with schoolwork, and initial gaps in performance are reinforced by a tendency for teachers to focus on “high – performers.” There is very little evidence of effective school-readiness curricula for poor children to combat this issue. If effective curricula could be devised, the achievement gap in mathematics between rich and poor children could be dramatically reduced as learning school mathematics depends on the exercise of numerical and geometric concepts that emerge in infancy and that are equally accessible to children of all cultures (Dehaene et al., 2006) across the socioeconomic spectrum (Gilmore et al., 2010). These early-developing mathematical concepts are greatly enhanced by exercise, which leads to measurable gains in school math performance (Griffin & Case, 1997).
This project aims to develop and evaluate a game-based preschool curriculum to enhance children's: (1) core numerical and geometric abilities in relation to the symbol systems of elementary school mathematics; (2) awareness of their own mathematical abilities and of the growth of those abilities with exercise; (3) appreciation of the link between everyday cognition and school-based skills. The ultimate goal is to prepare disadvantaged children – cognitively and motivationally – for success in school.
We will evaluate the games together as a curriculum, by introducing them to children in Indian preschools in the framework of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess whether the group of games together produces changes in children's mathematical competence or motivation both at the end of preschool and for at least one year later.
To asses the effect of the mathematical games themselves, in contrast to simply playing games in school, we will be introducing "social games", which could develop skills that are also by-product of the math games (attention to rules, ability to stay on task, etc) without a focus on mathematics. There are thus 3 groups: control, social games, and math games.
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After
While most children in developing countries now receive a primary education, the performance of primary schools is weak, especially for the poor (Banerjee & Duflo, 2011). Part of the problem is that many poor children are neither prepared for nor receive support with schoolwork, and initial gaps in performance are reinforced by a tendency for teachers to focus on “high – performers.” There is very little evidence of effective school-readiness curricula for poor children to combat this issue. If effective curricula could be devised, the achievement gap in mathematics between rich and poor children could be dramatically reduced as learning school mathematics depends on the exercise of numerical and geometric concepts that emerge in infancy and that are equally accessible to children of all cultures (Dehaene et al., 2006) across the socioeconomic spectrum (Gilmore et al., 2010). These early-developing mathematical concepts are greatly enhanced by exercise, which leads to measurable gains in school math performance (Griffin & Case, 1997).
This project aims to develop and evaluate a game-based preschool curriculum to enhance children's: (1) core numerical and geometric abilities in relation to the symbol systems of elementary school mathematics; (2) awareness of their own mathematical abilities and of the growth of those abilities with exercise; (3) appreciation of the link between everyday cognition and school-based skills. The ultimate goal is to prepare disadvantaged children – cognitively and motivationally – for success in school.
We will evaluate the games together as a curriculum, by introducing them to children in Indian preschools in the framework of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess whether the group of games together produces changes in children's mathematical competence or motivation both at the end of preschool and for at least one year later.
To asses the effect of the mathematical games themselves, in contrast to simply playing games in school, we will be introducing "social games", which could develop skills that are also by-product of the math games (attention to rules, ability to stay on task, etc) without a focus on mathematics. There are thus 3 groups: control, social games, and math games.
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