In June 2014, Edublox hosted the FUNtastic Brain Clinic in Singapore. The course was offered in conjunction with a world-class training academy in the Asia Pacific. The Center for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) at the University of Pretoria analyzed the test results from the Clinic and found a significant increase in concentration in just 5 days.
Clinic presented in Asia
The program was presented to 27 students, ages 10 to 12, to increase cognitive skills and improve reading, spelling, and comprehension. In Singapore, Grade 6 students must write an exam; the marks determine which high school they can apply to. Students who receive higher exam marks are accepted into more prestigious high schools in the city. The Clinic was presented to help students prepare for this exam.
The program lasted five days, with seven or eight half-hour daily sessions. Students were pre-tested using Cambridge Brain Sciences’ online tests. Five tests that assess memory, concentration, and general reasoning abilities were selected.
After testing, trained tutors commenced with Edublox lessons. The students completed a post-test, and the results were tabulated for evaluation. A control group comprising 25 students of similar age, gender, and ability also did the pre- and post-tests. This group did not attend the Clinic but continued attending school.
Evaluating the data
Flordis South Africa (FSA), the distributor of the cognitive-enhancing product Keenmind, sponsored the data evaluation. The CEA of the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria analyzed the pre- and post-test results.
The study’s results show an improvement in concentration, or focused attention, in just five days. Focused attention is the ability to selectively concentrate on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. This type of concentration is both physically and mentally tiring. People with attention problems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are known for their inability to filter out distractions and focus on one thing only.
Results of Feature Match, a Cambridge Brain Sciences online test designed to assess concentration by showing the respondent two similar images that require focused attention to identify differences, showed a statistically significant improvement in scores from pre- to post-testing. On top of that, the effect size is large (r = .507), which lies beyond what Professor John Hattie calls the “hinge point,” or the “desired effects point” in education.
Feature Match pre- and post-test comparison of the experimental and control groups
Table 1 below presents the descriptive statistics for the experimental and control groups on the Feature Match test results. The experimental group had a mean of 101.85 for the pre-test and 132.52 for the post-test. The control group had a mean of 98.80 for the pre-test and 95.04 for the post-test.
.
Table 2 shows the results of the Feature Match t-tests comparing pre- and post-test scores between the experimental and control groups. In the pre-test, there was no statistically significant difference (t(50) = .351, p >.05) between the experimental group’s mean (M = 101.85, SE = 6.854) and the control group’s mean (M = 98.80, SE = 5.192).
When comparing the post-test results, one sees that the experimental group had a higher mean (M = 132.52, SE = 6.177) than the control group (M = 95.04, SE = 6.537). The difference was statistically significant (t(50) = 4.170, p < .05). The results showed a large effect size (r = .507).
.
Alan Yip, the academy’s founder, said he is heartened to see that the FUNtastic Brain Clinic significantly improved the students’ concentration in just 5 days. “Concentration is fundamental to developing learning skills,” said Yip. “I have noticed, over the years, that students have not achieved their optimal performance due to the increased distractions in the external environment. Hence, helping students to improve their concentration on a sustainable basis remains a core objective of our programs.”
Edublox offers cognitive training and live online tutoring to students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and other learning disabilities. Our students are in the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Book a free consultation to discuss your child’s learning needs.
