Classic African board games function as learning spaces where multidomain learning occurs¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Across the reviewed studies, classic African board games are spaces where learning occurs across multiple domains, including mathematics, literacies, culture, and AI. → Rebecca Y. Bayeck 2026

Evidence¶

Rebecca Y. Bayeck 2026¶

Rebecca Y. Bayeck. (2026). Exploring learning in classic African board games: a review of recent literature. Education Tech Research Dev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-026-10733-9

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review's own thematic synthesis of 38 peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2024, retrieved through database searching and thematic analysis. The author concludes the games are spaces of "multidomain learning" spanning mathematics, literacies, culture, and AI exploration.

"This review shows that classic African board games are spaces that multidomain learning and further situates these games in the current discourse about the relationship between gameplay and learning."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Playing classic African board games such as I'tche, Oware, Omweso, Ayo, and Tsoro facilitates mathematical learning — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Classic African board games serve as settings for exploring and learning artificial intelligence techniques — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Classic African board games foster social interaction, cultural transmission, and inclusive play for players with visual impairments — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Songo gameplay develops computational thinking, including the culturally informed practice the review names songoputation — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Bao gameplay is linked to economic decision-making and entrepreneurial skills — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• SAIL embeds Indigenous and cultural perspectives as integral competencies across all domains and levels rather than as add-ons — related
• Selective attention processes are hypothesized to relate to language, literacy, and mathematics, three domains important to early academic skills — related