Ubongo Kids Learning Outcomes Study: The relationship between educational television and mathematics capability in Tanzania (2020)

Financial Literacy Episodes, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Quasi-experimental Difference-in-Differences Design, Treatment and Comparison Groups,
Learning Outcomes, Wellbeing

Location: Tanzania, Kenya

Reference citation: Joe Watson et al., 2020

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Study Summary

The study aimed to investigate the impact of educational television on children’s mathematics skills. Here’s a summary of the key aspects:

Objectives:

• To explore the association between exposure to educational television and mathematics capability among Tanzanian children.

Methodology:

• A cross-sectional study design was used.
• The sample included 38,682 Tanzanian children.
• The study controlled for various factors such as age, sex, school enrollment, Kiswahili attainment, and household fixed effects.

Findings:

• Normal exposure to educational television was significantly associated with improved mathematics capability.
• The positive effect of educational television on learning outcomes was observed even when considering usual viewing environments at home or other locations.

Main Takeaways:

• Educational television can be a cost-effective tool for enhancing mathematics learning in low-income countries.
• The findings suggest that routine exposure to educational content can have a beneficial impact on children’s academic performance.

Significance of the Study:

• The study provides evidence supporting the use of educational television as an intervention to improve mathematics proficiency in Tanzania.
  
• It highlights the potential for educational television to reach a wide audience at a relatively low cost, making it an attractive option for educational initiatives.
• This paper addresses this dearth of research by investigating the association between normal exposure to a Tanzanian cartoon, Ubongo Kids, and mathematics capability, as derived from an item response theory model applied to the test responses of 38,822 children.
  
• Cross-sectional findings suggest the association between normal television exposure and mathematics capability to be significant.
• Further, a cost-effectiveness comparison with alternate interventions in comparable contexts indicates that educational television is highly cost-effective.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• The findings presented in this paper concerning educational television viewership in usual environments act to triangulate those from prior research conducted in controlled settings. As such, policymakers in low-income contexts now possess more convincing evidence on the potential influence of educational television interventions.
  
• Additionally, the cost-effectiveness comparison made suggests that educational television should be considered a viable option by policymakers seeking to address learning outcomes with limited resources.

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