Playing modern board games in class produced greater pre-post improvement in working-memory updating than regular classes, in both first-grade and second-to-sixth-grade samples¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2024 · checked against its sources 2026-10-22 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In first grade, a significant time-group effect was found in block three of the updating task (five elements), with the experimental group showing a higher percentage of success not found in the control group. → Nuria Vita-Barrull 2024 q3 i? In grades two to six, group-time effects were found in updating block three and the total task, with the experimental group having the biggest increase in the percentage of correct answers. → Nuria Vita-Barrull 2024 (2)

Evidence¶

Nuria Vita-Barrull 2024¶

Nuria Vita-Barrull, Verónica Estrada-Plana, Jaume March-Llanes, Pablo Sotoca-Orgaz, Núria Guzmán, Rosa Ayesa, Jorge Moya-Higueras. (2024). Do you play in class? Board games to promote cognitive and educational development in primary school: A cluster randomized controlled trial. Learning and Instruction, 93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101946

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Mixed-model analysis of the first-grade subsample of the cluster-randomised trial (Conectar Jugando n = 20, control n = 24 at baseline). The play group improved from 14.03 to 22.03 % correct in block three while the control declined from 15.81 to 10.81, a "significant time-group effect".

"A significant time-group effect was found in block three of the updating task (five elements to remember) (F = 4.47; p = 0.04). The experimental group showed a higher percentage of success that was not found in the control group."

Nuria Vita-Barrull 2024 (2)¶

Nuria Vita-Barrull, Verónica Estrada-Plana, Jaume March-Llanes, Pablo Sotoca-Orgaz, Núria Guzmán, Rosa Ayesa, Jorge Moya-Higueras. (2024). Do you play in class? Board games to promote cognitive and educational development in primary school: A cluster randomized controlled trial. Learning and Instruction, 93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101946

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Mixed-model analysis of the second-to-sixth-grade subsample (n = 270 play, n = 208 control at baseline) of the cluster-randomised trial. The play group rose from 25.47 to 29.25 % correct in block three versus 26.55 to 24.53 for controls, a "group-time effect".

"In block three (F = 5.50; p = 0.02) and the total task (F = 3.99; p = 0.04), group-time effects were also found, with the experimental group having the biggest increase in the percentage of correct answers."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The board-game group showed greater pre-post improvement than controls in reading fluency, maths fluency and calculus in grades two to six — related
• Classroom board-game play improved inhibition in first grade but not in grades two to six, where inhibition and flexibility improved in both groups — related