Study shows that Pre-K students gain 4+ months in reasoning skills after using Kiko's Thinking Time

Posted by Grace on Sep 30 2016

In May and June 2016, WestEd, a leading not-for-profit educational research agency, conducted a study to determine the feasibility of using Kiko's Thinking Time in the classroom. The goal of the study was to determine the extent to which Kiko's Thinking Time can be used within the requirements and constraints of an authentic education setting, and to examine the promise of using the app to improve students’ cognitive skills.

Study Set Up
WestEd recruited two preschool sites serving low-income communities in the San Francisco Bay Area to participate in the study. A total of four preschool teachers (two per site) and 36 students participated in the study. Of the 36 students, 17 were four-year-olds and 19 were five-year-olds; 16 were male and 20 were female. Teachers were encouraged to incorporate Kiko's Thinking Time into their regular classroom routines, and had flexibility and choice in how the app was used in the classroom. Teachers were encouraged to have students engage with the app for 10-15 minutes per day, for three times a week, over the course of two weeks.

On average, students interacted with Kiko's Thinking Time for 60 minutes total during the study. At Site 1, each individual student play session averaged 15 minutes in length, and at Site 2, each individual play session averaged 11 minutes in length.

Results
Researchers collected complete assessment data from 32 of the 36 students participating in the study to determine if use of Kiko's Thinking Time could lead to gains in students’ cognitive skills (specifically, in the domain of reasoning). After using the intervention, students’ overall scores on the WPPSI-IV Matrix Reasoning* subtest increased significantly from pre (M=8.25, SD=4.18) to post (M=10.38, SD=4.19); t=-4.05 (31), p<0.001. On the pre-assessment, students answered an average of 8.25 items correctly, while on the post- assessment, students answered an average of 10.38 items correctly – reflecting a 26% increase in the number of items answered correctly after using the intervention. This increase corresponds to a gain of 4.3 months on the Matrix Reasoning subtest from pre- to post-assessment.

*The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) Matrix Reasoning subtest was administered in a one-on-one session via a paper test booklet at the beginning and the end of the intervention. The Matrix Reasoning subtest involves fluid intelligence, broad visual intelligence, classification and spatial ability, knowledge of part-whole relationships, simultaneous processing, and perceptual organization.