Educational Impact of Sisimpur: The Results of an Experimental Study of Children's Learning

This 6-page document provides a summary of a study carried out to examine the educational impact of Sisimpur, the Bangladeshi co-production of Sesame Street, on the skills and knowledge of preschool-aged children (4 to 6 years of age). Sisimpur is a partnership between Nayantara Communications in Bangladesh, and Sesame Workshop, a USA-based non-profit educational media organisation. Sesame Workshop commissioned the Bangladesh-based Research and Computing Services (RCS) Private Limited to undertake this study; both the project and this research were funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

As detailed here, data were collected between March 16 2005 and April 19 2005 in the areas of Moghbazar (Dhaka, an urban area) and Kaligonj (Gazipur, a rural district), before Sisimpur aired. Using an experimental design, RCS randomly assigned 240 children to the experimental group; this group watched 10 episodes of Sisimpur twice over a course of 20 days. Another 240 children (the control group) viewed an animated series, Tom and Jerry. Children belonging to both groups were tested on a range of skills before and after exposure to the episodes. These included vocabulary, literacy skills, numeracy skills, cognitive skills (object relations, spatial relations, and literary forms), life skills (e.g., sharing, oral health hygiene, orientation toward children with disabilities), and cultural knowledge (e.g., knowledge of musical instruments, festivals, and citizenship).

In general, the research found that "Sisimpur has a positive impact across a variety of domains. The effects remained evident despite stringent statistical controls for numerous potentially confounding factors such as demographic and socioeconomic variables, as well as children's performance prior to viewing the program." The benefits are particularly strong for rural children, girls, and 5-year-olds. To highlight specific outcomes (significant at p .05):

• Vocabulary - Children who watched Sisimpur outperformed nonviewers in tests of vocabulary. These effects were particularly pronounced for children living in rural areas, girls, and 4- and 6-year-olds.
• Numeracy Skills - Overall, children who watched Sisimpur were twice as likely as nonviewers to know how to count. Girls who viewed were almost 5 times more likely to know how to count than were girls who did not view. Among 5-year-olds, viewers were over 5½ times more likely to be able to count than nonviewers. In addition, Sisimpur seemed to have particular benefits in numeracy for children in rural areas: Compared to nonviewers, viewers living in rural regions were over 2.5 times more likely to be able to count to 20, and were able to count to higher numbers.
• Cognitive Skills - Watching Sisimpur was associated with better cognitive skills, both among the sample as a whole, and among 5-year-olds and boys.
• Life Skills - Watching Sisimpur was associated with a higher likelihood of recognising disability. The effects of viewing were moderated by gender, such that girls who watched the programme were more likely to recognise individuals with disability and report liking the child with a physical disability than were children who did not watch. The educational messages on life skills also appeared to be especially effective among 5-year-olds: Those who watched the programme were more likely to report making things out of materials in their environment, and to notice physical disability.
• Cultural Knowledge - Viewing Sisimpur was associated with a higher likelihood of being able to name and recognise local musical instruments, and to know the name of the country.

"Taken together, the results provide significant evidence that Sisimpur can make a demonstrable educational impact on young Bangladeshi children. After only 20 days of viewing, children achieved measurable gains in vocabulary, numeracy, cultural knowledge and life skills that exceeded those of children who had not been exposed."