In a recent study carried out in Scotland by primary school teacher Derek Robertson, children aged ten to eleven showed significant improvement on basic mathematics after using Nintendo’s Brain Age in the classroom on a daily basis. The study compared the performance of students who used the DS software to that of a control group, which did not receive any additional training, and a test group that used a more physical mathematics program called Brain Gym.

The results of this study revealed that the students who played Brain Age not only showed a higher overall improvement on their test scores than the other groups, but the speed at which these children performed was substantially better as well.

The control group scored approximately 72 percent on the first test, and 77 on the second. The Brain Gym group scored 70 percent before, and 71 percent after, whereas the Brain Training group saw an increase from 76 percent to 86 percent.

For average completion time the control group took around 19 minutes to finish the first test, and 18 on the second. The Brain Gym group took 19 minutes at first, which went down to 17.5 minutes, and the Brain Training group took approximately 16 minutes at first and 13 after.

What’s more, researchers observed that DS hardware had somewhat of a calming effect on the children, and their overall behavior seemed to improve while they were playing the game. The teacher of the children in the Brain Age test group noted that her students were very enthusiastic about the game, and that she never once saw a child attempt to damage or destroy a DS system.

What do you think about all of this, readers? Do you foresee a future with teachers commonly using gaming as a teaching tool? Let us know!

GameSpot