Our two years project was completed successfully proved Play based pedagogy to be very efficient with over 1,700 preschool and standard one children in Perak.
METHOD
This pilot project was conducted from March 2020 to February 2022 together with Larut Matang Dan Selama District Education Office and Finnish Education Solutions Sdn Bhd. 31 schools, 70 teachers and up to 1780 students were involved. The Covid-19 pandemic affected the project implementation with various school closures and challenges in arranging the remote learning.
In this pilot project, the latest Finnish method for early foreign language learning was introduced. The method, packaged as the Moomin Language School concept and licensed from the Finnish language learning solution provider Playvation Ltd, is based on the latest Finnish education methods, implicit learning and language immersion. In addition, it utilizes digital tools and spaced learning to create a safe, engaging and effective way for children to learn a new language. The service combines a mobile language learning game with predesigned on-site playful group sessions.
By playing the mobile game, children build a broad vocabulary and a strong understanding of grammar, while the teacher-led predesigned playful classroom sessions help children to start communicating in the new language.
The service is created by an interdisciplinary team of experts and is based on a solid educational curriculum that not only teaches a language but takes a holistic approach to help children develop as wholesome individuals.
RESULTS
We compared the use of the Moomin Language School learning application and the assessments given by teachers, with a total of 330 children. Seventeen schools were selected for the study in a partially randomized manner. Because there is a difference in the use of
grading scales between schools, the grades received by all children were normalized on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 corresponding to the worst grade and 3 to the best. The estimates are therefore not absolute, but the scale has been changed. Grade 3 thus corresponds to the more commonly used grade of 6. The grades given by teachers to the first-year school group had risen slightly more linearly than those of the preschoolers. However, the difference between the groups is not statistically significant. The essential information is that both groups get better grades as the game progresses. For schoolchildren, the difference is statistically clearer. The correlation between the number of DSUs (daily study units) played in the learning application and the grades from teachers is statistically significant for first-year schoolchildren. The Pearson correlation is .001 (N = 262).
The following image shows the grades that the children received in the first-year group.
We also compared the assessment grades between the treatment group to control group which consist of students from the same district who did not follow the program. Among the treatment group grades were constantly higher except in six school/levels where opposite results were discovered. On average grades were 15.15% higher in treatment group.
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