How do gestures help children learn? Gesturing might encourage children to extract meaning implicit in their hand movements, this theory is called embodied cognition which our minds stem from our actions and interactions with the world around us. Some studies showed that children may be able to learn in a purely abstract or they can learn new things faster when their teachers use gestures while they are explaining a concept, according to these studies, some sciences believe that actions can be more useful than words in the classroom, thus technology can be helped children as well, such as tablet, Nintendo and so on.
Some researches suggest that body movements are involved not only in processing old ideas, but also in creating new things. In psychology, they have a lot of theories which can explain how your memory works and way to improve it. For example, Craing and Lockhart (1972) mentioned about elaborative rehearsal which is a type of rehearsal could be helped our memories stronger because it involves deep semantic processing of a to-be-remembered item resulting. For example, if you were presented with a list of digits for later recall (0873479778), grouping the digits together like 087-347-9778 would be easier to remember.
After I read this article and realized how gesturing help children learn, but I still believe that we have different learning styles. For some people, they can memorize things more efficiently with pictures than learning by words or some people can understand words more clearly than gestures or pictures. Accordingly, it might be too soon to conclude that waving our arms, wriggling our fingers or using gestures can definitely help us learn faster, but I admit that it is a good idea for teachers can improve their students learn efficiency by using gestures, according to the study above.
We are required to understand our nature of learning that definitely help us to find the most effective method for learning in our own ways. In my point of view, we can't just lay foundations for new knowledge simply by telling learners how to move their hands.
References
Barras, C. (2014, March 21). Want to learn quicker? Use your body. BBC Future. Retrieved March 22, 2014 from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140321-how-to-learn-fast-use-your-body
Craik, F., & Lockhart, R. (1972). Levels of processing. A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour. Ontario: University of Toronto.
For me, I think gestures are very useful for my learning. For example, if teachers use hand movement while their are teaching, I will be concentrated more on the lesson. Also, when I have to perform presentations, I usually use gesture to explain my content in order to get attention from the audience.
ReplyDeleteSometimes in class, a student's hand gesture clearly shows that they have the right (or wrong) idea - and that's a good start to putting it into words, perhaps with some help from others who also understand the gesture.
ReplyDeleteI know I also gestures and, I suspect, some clear facial expressions, but I don't know how much. It might be interesting to video part of a class and then watch to count just how common such gestures are.
I find that waving arms, wriggling fingers and toes a bit, and a stride around the home, perhaps to grab a quick snack, is also very helpful when I'm concentrating on things like proofreading second drafts, which don't really allow for multi-tasking.
ReplyDeleteIf I try and listen to something while I'm reviewing or proofreading, I end writing rubbish that embarrasses if I don't catch it before I hit "Send."
But I'm going to take a proper break now. I've been watching Downton Abbey again this weekend, and have just finished the first season. The first disc of the second season should let my brain refresh for a bit more work later this evening. Dinner might also go down well.
This article remind me of some news reporter that I used to work with. It was quite funny, lots of them (including me) had to wave hands while they were reporting news. We know that sometime we used it too much and that gestures didn't mean anything, but if we stop waving hands, it will be more difficult to combine ours words and thought together.
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