Modification and Evaluation of the Educational Mobile Games Heroes of Knowledge in Children

The goal of the proposed research is to adapt and rigorously evaluate educational mobile games, designed as a downloadable mobile apps to be played on smartphones or tablets. Investigators will be partnering with Yogome for this project. Yogame is a company dedicated to creating educational games that aim to reinforce knowledge acquired in school and help children learn new things in an entertaining and fun way.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Math Knowledge
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Heroes of Knowledge; Behavioral: Attention/Time Control Game

Detailed Description

This study will modify and evaluate the Heroes of Knowledge (HoK) games, beginning with the Math Heroes game which was designed to be played for up to 8 hours. Other games in the HoK series may be included in this process if they are fully developed and available for testing. In testing the efficacy of the Math Heroes game, children will play the game for 1-1.5 hours per week, 2-3 times per week, for 2-4 weeks (to accumulate 6-8 hours of game play). The game has been designed to target math knowledge skills identified by the Common Core Standards for Mathematics (2012).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 133
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • New Haven, Connecticut, United States
      • Yale University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 5 years to 8 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must be in first grade and interested and able to participate in a mobile app-based videogame (willing to sit with a tablet computer for approximately 1-1.5 hours, 2-3 times per week for 2-4 weeks).

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Heroes of Knowledge Game	Behavioral: Heroes of Knowledge; Participants will play their assigned game(s) on a tablet computer for 1-1.5 hours, 2-3 times per week for 2-4 weeks (to accumulate 6-8 hours of gameplay).
Active Comparator: Attention/Time Control Games	Behavioral: Attention/Time Control Game; Participants will play their assigned game(s) on a tablet computer for 1-1.5 hours, 2-3 times per week for 2-4 weeks (to accumulate 6-8 hours of gameplay).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pearson KeyMath3 Diagnostic Assessment (KeyMath-3DA)	A comprehensive, norm-referenced measure of essential mathematical concepts and skills. Test items are grouped into 10 subtests that represent three general math content areas: Basic Concepts (conceptual knowledge), Operations (computational skills), and Applications (problem solving).	Baseline
Pearson KeyMath3 Diagnostic Assessment (KeyMath-3DA)	A comprehensive, norm-referenced measure of essential mathematical concepts and skills. Test items are grouped into 10 subtests that represent three general math content areas: Basic Concepts (conceptual knowledge), Operations (computational skills), and Applications (problem solving).	2-4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Academic Self Competence will be captured using a "structure alternate format" scale	Self-Competence will be captured using a "structure alternate format" scale designed for young children adapted from the 28-item Perceived Competence Scale in Children. For this study, self-competence is defined as a child's sense of cognitive competence. Each item is scored from 1 to 4, where a score of 1 indicates low perceived competence and a score of 4 reflects high perceived competence. Scores are summed and then averaged.	Baseline
Academic Self Competence will be captured using a "structure alternate format" scale	Self-Competence will be captured using a "structure alternate format" scale designed for young children adapted from the 28-item Perceived Competence Scale in Children. For this study, self-competence is defined as a child's sense of cognitive competence. Each item is scored from 1 to 4, where a score of 1 indicates low perceived competence and a score of 4 reflects high perceived competence. Scores are summed and then averaged.	2-4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 9, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): September 10, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): December 20, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 19, 2016
• Last Verified: December 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 1503015556