Hand Gestures Help Math Processing
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In the article "Making Children Gesture Brings Out Implicit Knowledge and Leads to Learning," published in the November issue of the Journal of Educational Psychology, researchers from the University of Chicago explain how encouraging children to gesture as they work through unmastered math skills helps them more successfully learn how to complete the process correctly.
Sara C. Broaders, Ph.D., Susan Wagner Cook, Ph.D., Zachary Mitchell, B.A., and Susan Goldin-Meadow, Ph.D., studied evidence supporting the idea that hand motions help children employ new problem-solving solutions, indirectly preparing them for learning new concepts. Further, speculation suggests this movement may help children conceptualize the more vague aspects of mathematical problems. These findings build upon earlier research proposing that, in addition to helping people verbally articulate ideas, gesturing actually helps improve the thinking process. Congruently, the implementation of body movement could altogether change the approach to math instruction. As many children find it difficult to grasp, recall and use mathematical concepts in the written form, gesturing may help them hurdle these obstacles. Much previously-executed research on gestural expression references the correlations to and benefits of implicit and explicit learning, citing when learners are able to complete a task, but unable to describe their process they have employed implicit or understood knowledge (e.g., Siegler & Stern, 1998). Additionally, earlier research establishes through spontaneous gestures, speakers communicate information not included in their oral presentation which helps strengthen audience comprehension (Goldin-Meadow, 2003; Goldin-Meadow, Alibali, & Church, 1993). Article: Gesturing helps grade-schoolers solve math problems SHARE:
Posted In: Learning and Learning Disorders | Tags: Children | Gestures | Learning | Posted by FindCounseling.com Staff on November 07, 2007 at 07:04 AM | Permalink |
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