The authors attribute the null intervention effect to children's prior formal mathematics teaching and note the study is a failed conceptual replication of earlier linear board-game studies¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r3 · q1
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? The authors hypothesize the lack of difference among conditions reflects the level of formal learning children had already experienced in UK schools. → James-Brabham 2024 q1 i? The study failed to conceptually replicate previous studies showing linear number board games improved early numeracy skills. → James-Brabham 2024 (2)

Evidence¶

James-Brabham 2024¶

James-Brabham, E., Jay, T., & Sella, F. (2024). No evidence that playing a linear number board game improves numerical skills beyond teaching as usual: a randomized controlled trial in four- to five-year-old primary school children. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000857

q1 · i? · causal · r3

Authors' interpretation in the Discussion, not a tested result: UK children at age five receive formal mathematical teaching and are assessed against the Early Years Foundation Stage, unlike US samples in many prior board-game studies; no data test this hypothesis directly.

"We hypothesize the lack of difference among conditions may be a result of the level of formal learning children in the current study had already experienced."

James-Brabham 2024 (2)¶

James-Brabham, E., Jay, T., & Sella, F. (2024). No evidence that playing a linear number board game improves numerical skills beyond teaching as usual: a randomized controlled trial in four- to five-year-old primary school children. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000857

q1 · i? · causal · r3

Authors' framing of the RCT outcome in the Discussion: despite a larger sample than most prior studies, individual randomization, stratified blocked randomization, and masking, no post-intervention differences among conditions were apparent.

"This pre-registered study failed to (conceptually) replicate previous studies showing linear number board games improved early numeracy skills (e.g., Siegler & Ramani, 2008; Ramani & Siegler, 2008; Siegler & Ramani, 2009; Ramani et al., 2012)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Number Board Games Improve Numerical Knowledge — related
• In a pre-registered RCT, neither the forward nor bidirectional number board game (nor the alphabet control) produced a statistically significant condition effect on numerical or letter-sound outcomes in four- to five-year-olds — related