TITLE:
Differential Effectiveness of Flash Training to Strengthen Basic Arithmetic Factual Knowledge in Children—An Experimental Study
AUTHORS:
Ingo Roden, Sara Studte, Dietmar Grube
KEYWORDS:
Basic Arithmetic Facts, Online Intervention, Primary School Children, Randomized Control Group Design
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.17 No.6,
June
16,
2026
ABSTRACT: In this study, we applied a pre–post-follow-up design to an online based intervention for improving basic arithmetic facts (facts-intervention) in a cohort of primary school children. The participating children of the intervention group independently trained for five weeks, four times a week for 15 minutes. This condition was compared to a control group that received a phonologic training with the same frequency. At post-test, children who received the facts-intervention solved significantly more addition and substraction tasks and subtraction tasks correctly, compared to the children who received a control training. Moreover, children who received the facts-intervention solved more addition tasks and subtraction tasks correctly, compared to the children of the control condition at the follow-up, four months after the end of the intervention. Further analyses revealed that training effects cannot be attributed to children who performed below a certain level in a standardized mathematics test for second graders. Possible reasons for the differential effects of the facts-intervention are discussed.