Research on embodied cognition has found that students who use gestures to trace geometric figures while learning geometry perform better than students who restrict their use of gestures. However, this effect may not appear in non-geometric learning. This study investigates this through the tasks of adding and subtracting integers and angle relationships involving parallel lines. The participants were low-ability seventh graders unable to master integer addition and subtraction on a screening test. A pilot study was conducted with 18 seventh graders, and the results were used to improve the worked examples, practices, and procedures. In formal experiments, 52 students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, where they studied worked examples either with or without gestures. A delayed test and interview were conducted three to four months after the experiment. The results showed that the experimental group did not differ from the control group in learning time, cognitive load, and accuracy in Experiment 1, but the accuracy of the two groups for the four question types was different in the delayed test. In Experiment 2, the accuracy of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group on the post-test far transfer problems. However, this effect was not observed in the delayed test. In summary, the present study found good gesture design combined with examples that participants have learned, enhance student learning. Also, for geometric materials that participants have not learned, gestures led by principles in textbooks can greatly enhance learning. Both the research and practice of mathematics education has considerable potential to explore the effect of embodied cognition.
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The Effects of Gesture on Low-Ability Students’ Learning of Arithmetic and Geometry Using Worked Examples
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