Play-Based Multi-Sensory Instructional Materials for Cognitive & Language Development of Preschool Learners

Abstract

Move.Org Foundation Inc. (MovEd) is a non-stock, non-profit organization that provides early childhood care and development programs to children and their families in underserved communities in the Philippines. It has nineteen (19) learning labs in total and one of which is located in La Huerta, Parañaque City, which is the chosen project locale of the researcher. The purpose of the study is to identify the instructional gap that exists in MovEd La Huerta learning lab and address this gap through an instructional solution. Results of the needs, context, and learner analysis reveal that the participants, MovEd preschool learners, have deficiency in their cognitive domain and language skills, and there is a lack of variety in the instructional materials available that will help develop these deficiencies. As such, the goal of the study is for the participants to improve on their cognitive and language skills as compared to their pre-assessment results through play-based multi-sensory instructional materials. The research is an eight-week instructional plan consisting of eight (8) modules that contain mainly play-based learning activities and multi-sensory instructional materials. The Module 5 Day 2 lesson was pilot-tested by the preschool teachers (implementers) for the researcher and her external adviser (project gatekeeper) to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional design. Evaluation results reveal that the participants showed improvements in the post-assessment as compared to their pre-assessment results. It is recommended that the other MovEd learning labs adopt the instructional design.