Children's Performance Levels Research Articles

Learning While Playing: Introducing Programming Concepts to Children in Minecraft

Children’s interest in playing popular video games could be utilized for learning and educational purposes. The entertaining and interactive learning environments of digital games can facilitate the learning of a variety of challenging subjects. This paper presents the Creative Programmer, which is a Minecraft modification (Mod) that takes an advantage of the popularity of Minecraft game among children to teach them basic computer programming concepts. This mod targets children aged between (5- 15). The effectiveness of this Mod was tested using a pre and post quizzes. The results indicate that children who did not have any previous knowledge of programming answered most of the test questions correctly, while the performance level of children who were familiar with programming improved in the post-quiz compared to the pre-quiz. Moreover, it has been observed that the familiarity of the Minecraft environment made learning more enjoyable and enhanced the knowledge gaining process.

Effects on Motor Development and Performance Levels of Physical Activity in Music Accompaniment on Children with Developmental Deficiencies

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of physical activity with music on motor development and performance in children with developmental deficiencies. The study includes twenty children with developmental deficiencies, aged between 10-15 years old. Children were classified into two groups randomly and both groups were given 1 hour of training 3 days a week for 20 weeks. Physical activity with English and Spanish verbal song was used for the first group and only physical activity for the second group. Each participant participated in shuttle, shuttle run, flexibility, standing long jump, vertical jump tests. The fatigue parameter of children was evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale. As a result of this study, it has been shown that physical activity with music is more effective method to improve motor development and performance levels of children with developmental deficiencies.

A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of music interventions for children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurobehavioral disorder characterized by overactivity and impulsiveness beyond what is considered typical development. ADHD affects 3% to 10% of school-age children in the United States, with males being three to five times more likely to have an ADHD diagnosis compared with females (DuPaul, 2007). It is estimated that every teacher in the United States has at least one child with ADHD in his or her classroom, and four million school-age children are affected with the disorder (Dang, Warrington, Tung, Baker, & Pan, 2007). The symptoms of ADHD can affect all aspects of a child's life, especially school performance. Early recognition, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD are important to minimize the impact of ADHD on the individual's social development, including school performance, interactions, and self-esteem. Clinicians generally find that parents of children with ADHD describe how their children prefer the use of external stimulation, such as the TV or stereo, while completing homework tasks, and parents express concern that the use of external stimulation hinders the academic performance of their children (Abikoff, Courtney, Szeibel, & Koplewicz, 1996). However, studies have found that external stimulation may have a positive impact on academic performance for children with ADHD (Abikoff et al., 1996; Chew, 2010; Greenop & Kann, 2007; Pelham et al., 2011; Pratt, Abel, & Skidmore, 1995).A landmark study by Zentall (1975) discussed the optimal stimulation theory with regard to ADHD. Using this theory, Zentall found that children with ADHD demonstrated high levels of activity when they encounter a task or situation of low arousal or stimulation. Additionally, Zentall described how certain situations require more environmental stimulation than others in order to support effective performance. However, children with ADHD have an even higher threshold for such environmental stimulation. Therefore, children with ADHD typically display hyperactive behavior when levels of stimulation are low, and this leads to low task performance (Greenop & Kann, 2007; Zentall, 1993). According to the optimal stimulation theory, the distractibility of those with ADHD is a functional attempt to control under arousal from low levels of stimulation, by seeking increased levels of stimulation (Abikoff et al., 1996). Thus, performance levels of these children will increase rather than decrease with external stimulation.Studies addressing school performance have found that children with ADHD have difficulty sustaining attention during academic tasks, and as the academic tasks continue, the performance level of children with ADHD drops (Wu, Anderson, & Castiello, 2002; Zentall, 1993). A few studies have focused on the effects of external stimulation, specifically music, and its impact on task performance for children with ADHD; however, the current research on this topic is limited. Greenop and Kann (2007) replicated previous studies of Zentall (1993). They compared children with and without ADHD on an academic task-mathematics problems- during two counterbalanced conditions of stimulation: with or without music. They believed that performance on academic tasks depended on the level of arousal created by the task as well as the quality of the distractor. Performance was measured as the number of problems correct, the number of problems attempted, and an accuracy score. The accuracy score on the mathematics problems increased significantly during the music condition for both children with ADHD and those without ADHD.Another study was conducted with boys, in elementary school, with and without ADHD to determine the effects of auditory stimulation on their arithmetic performance (Abikoff et al., 1996). The rationale was that stimulation would help children with ADHD stay on task. The participants worked on an arithmetic task during three different auditory conditions: a high stimulation condition in which music was presented, a low stimulation condition in which speech was taking place, and a no stimulation condition of silence. …

Using generalized additive modeling to empirically identify thresholds within the ITERS in relation to toddlers' cognitive development.

Research linking high-quality child care programs and children's cognitive development has contributed to the growing popularity of child care quality benchmarking efforts such as quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS). Consequently, there has been an increased interest in and a need for approaches to identifying thresholds, or cutpoints, in the child care quality measures used in these benchmarking efforts that differentiate between different levels of children's cognitive functioning. To date, research has provided little guidance to policymakers as to where these thresholds should be set. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) data set, this study explores the use of generalized additive modeling (GAM) as a method of identifying thresholds on the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) in relation to toddlers' performance on the Mental Development subscale of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (the Bayley Mental Development Scale Short Form-Research Edition, or BMDSF-R). The present findings suggest that simple linear models do not always correctly depict the relationships between ITERS scores and BMDSF-R scores and that GAM-derived thresholds were more effective at differentiating among children's performance levels on the BMDSF-R. Additionally, the present findings suggest that there is a minimum threshold on the ITERS that must be exceeded before significant improvements in children's cognitive development can be expected. There may also be a ceiling threshold on the ITERS, such that beyond a certain level, only marginal increases in children's BMDSF-R scores are observed.

Werden die Sprachleistungen unserer Kinder immer schwächer? Beobachtungen an sechs Einschulungsjahrgängen in Münster

The physical examinations at school enrollment of the years 1999 to 2004 were subjected to comparative analysis to help clarify whether children's language performance at enrollment has significantly decreased in recent years or not. This question has indeed been a matter of public debate for some time. Furthermore, potential influencing factors, in particular social environment, were to be examined as regards their effects on language performance. The results indicate that the children's performance level has not significantly decreased over the six-year period of observation. Instead, rather an increase can be observed over this period of time. If, nevertheless, more and more and, in particular, more significant language deficits continue to be observed, one explanation for this may be seen in a changing assessment of children's needs for therapy or remedial education. The performance level of children who were recommended therapy or means of remedial education in 2004 is significantly higher than that of children for whom such recommendations were given in 1999 or 2000. Perhaps an increased sensitivity for those performance areas where performance levels are found to be deficient should be postulated, and, consequently, a more differentiated assessment of diagnostic findings should be assumed. The results of the examinations once again demonstrate the enormous influence that social factors have on language performance. Children growing up in a less advantaged social environment tend to achieve significantly lower performance marks in language tests than children from more privileged social environments. Also the duration of kindergarten education appears to be relevant to children's language performance: children who have visited institutions of preschool-education for three or more years achieve higher performance marks than children who have spent no ore only little time in these institutions. When seen against the background of circa one in four children with a migration background (around 8% of persons of the same age in Münster's population) having unsatisfactory knowledge of German at school enrollment, there appear to be efficient prevention measures available here.

Perception and production of mandarin tones in prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants.

Mandarin is a lexical tone language in which four tones are crucial for determining lexical meanings. Acquisition of such a tone system may be challenging to prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants because, as recent studies have shown, cochlear implant devices are ineffective in encoding voice pitch information required for tone recognition. This study aimed to investigate Mandarin tone production and perception skills of children with cochlear implants. Thirty prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants, ages 6;0 (yr;mo) to 12;6, participated. These children received their implants at an average age of 5;8, with a range from 2;3 to 10;3. The average length of their cochlear implant experience was 3;7, with a range from 1;7 to 6;5. Tasks of tone production and tone identification involved a pictorial protocol of 48 words containing the targeted tones in either monosyllabic or disyllabic forms. The average scores for tone production was 53.09% (SD = 15.42), and for tone identification was 72.88% (SD = 19.68; chance level = 50%). Significant differences were found in the percentages across the production or identification of tone types or tone pairs. The children with exceptional performance in tone production tended to also perform well in tone identification. The children's performance levels in tone identification and production were also discussed in relation to the factors of age at implantation and length of cochlear implant experience. The present results suggest that the majority of prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants did not master Mandarin tone production. However, a small group of participants demonstrated nearly perfect skills of Mandarin tone production in addition to tone perception. Thus, it is necessary to consider factors other than the device's limitations to explain these high levels of performance in the perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones.

SES, ethnic, and gender differences in young children's informal addition and subtraction: A clinical interview investigation

The main goal of this study was to examine possible socioeconomic status (SES) differences in 4- and 5-year-old children's informal mathematical knowledge. One hundred and two children, 32 from lower, 39 from middle, and 31 from upper SES families participated in the study. Each participant was given a clinical interview involving several addition and subtraction problems and a related representation task. With and without scaffolding, the children from the upper SES group showed higher rates of success on many problems than did the children from the lower and middle SES groups. At the same time, the results fail to reveal significant differences in the performance levels of children from lower and middle SES families. Furthermore, all of the SES groups used very similar strategies. Although the children from the upper SES group showed higher levels of performance, their underlying knowledge (strategies) differed little from that of children from the lower and middle SES groups. These results are consistent with the hypotheses that both common biological inheritance and a common environment rich in opportunities for mathematical learning insure the development of basic mathematical competence in virtually all children. The study also found almost no gender or ethnic differences in performance and underlying knowledge. The results suggest that evaluators and educators should employ flexible methods, like the clinical interview, to assess mathematical knowledge and that preschoolers can benefit from a rich mathematics education.