Last year a small study in Scotland showed that the Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima game for the DS boosted math scores.
This year that study has been conducted on a wider scale by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS), which tried it on 600 pupils in 32 schools across the country, according to the BBC. Those who used the game found their math test scores had improved by up to 50%, and the time they took on a math test had dropped by five minutes, and the greatest improvement came among less able pupils.
The pupils in the study played the game for 20 minutes at the start of class for nine weeks. The study indicated no difference between girls and boys, nor did it seem to have an effect if they also had and played the game at home.
Derek Robertson of LTS said:
"Computer games help flatten out the hierarchy that exists in schools – they are in the domain of the learner as opposed to the domain of the school.
"This intervention encouraged all children to engage and get success in a different contextual framework; one in which they don’t know their place."
