By Grant Smith, education reporter

PUPILS ACROSS Scotland could be boosting their brain power by playing computer games thanks to a project at a Dundee primary school.

Children at St Columba’s spent just 15 to 20 minutes a day using Nintendo DS consoles to play Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training game—and the results were so good a bigger study is planned.

More than 900 pupils at 16 schools in Dundee, Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire and the Western Isles are to test if the programme can help to improve their maths skills under the watchful eye of experts at national education service Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS).

LTS development officer for games-based learning Derek Robertson said, “The initial pilot project that used the Nintendo DS and Dr Kawashima produced fascinating results.

“Not only was there a marked and significant improvement in attainment in mental maths but there was also an improvement in concentration levels, behaviour and self-regulation in the learning process.

“It will be interesting to see how this applies on a larger scale.”

The brain training programme is a collection of mini-games such as reading tests, problem-solving exercises and memory puzzles.

The idea is these challenges “exercise” the brain by increasing the flow of blood to an area called the pre-frontal cortex.

An official report on the project said, “Our results have shown that a small, cleverly designed hand-held game can significantly enhance learner performance in mental maths as well as having a positive impact on other aspects of classroom life.”

The pupils at St Columba’s— all aged nine or 10—were given a numeracy test before they began working with the Nintendo consoles to establish their existing level of skill.

They were then able to play the games first thing each morning for 10 weeks, after which they were tested to see what progress they had made.

The report said, “The average score went up 10 points from 76 out of 100 to 86 out of 100.

“The results also showed an improvement across the board, particularly in children who had scored in the 20s, 30s and 40s in the first test, with one learning support pupil jumping from 25 out of 100 to 68.”

The pupils also took less time to complete the test, with the average dropping from more than 17 minutes to just over 13.

Some of the children halved the time it took to complete the test and either maintained or improved their score.

Mr Robertson spoke to teachers and pupils to see what they felt about the project.

One teacher said, “I can actually see the difference between the ones using Nintendos and the children coming from other classes that aren’t using Nin-tendos.”

One of the pupils said, “People weren’t that good at sums—it’s helped everyone.”

One unexpected result of the project was the impact it had on the children’s behaviour.

Teachers said classes had become much more settled and quiet as they worked away on the games first thing in the morning.

LTS is now working with schools inspectors at Dundee University to run the larger pilot in the four local authorities, which gets under way in April.

Mr Robertson said, “LTS is committed to exploring and developing new technology to support learning and teaching in the 21st century.

“Game-based learning can provide dynamic and culturally relevant contexts that engage, motivate and challenge today’s young learner.”

Dundee City Council education convener Laurie Bidwell said, “The innovative pilot project has brought about many benefits for the pupils involved and has highlighted the positive role that computer games can play in an educational setting.”

However, some academics are sceptical about the value of using computer games in the class.

Neuroscience expert at Edinburgh University Professor Robert Logie said, “They can be fun to play but I think focusing too much on this as a sort of catch-all cure for what people see as a lack of mental ability is misleading.”