Mind Your Body: Learning Mathematics Through Physical Action

• In Event: Roundtable Session 123
  In Roundtable Session: Grounded Embodied Cognition in the K-12 Classroom: Innovations and Explorations in Practice

Abstract

Traditional mathematics instruction has regularly treated the subject as a set of abstract, universal truths to memorize, even if they cannot be understood. However, using an embodied cognition framework to think about learning creates a need for a different way of approaching mathematics instruction. Already research has shown the importance of physical embodiment in learning (Fadjo et al., 2009; Abrahamson et al., 2011; Enyedy et al., 2011). Actions that embody mathematics concepts have the potential support student learning in new ways by enabling students to make connections between content and their own physical movements. We are interested in how to incorporate these ideas into classroom instruction and whether or not they have a measureable impact on students’ learning of mathematics.

To investigate this, two groups of high school geometry students and four teachers participated in a two-week unit on similar triangles. Both groups of students followed a curriculum based on a series of eight small-group learning activities. In order to detect any effect direct embodiment might have on learning, the activities for one condition (n = 86) had students physically act out mathematical concepts, promoting embodiment of the concepts. In contrast, students in the other condition (n = 76) watched videos or drew representations of the subject matter. Other than the difference in the students’ active physical embodiment, the activities for each condition were as similar as possible, including the same basic tasks and the same discussion questions. The four teachers participating in the study taught a combined 14 sections of geometry. We randomly assigned half of each teacher’s classes to each condition. This minimized any teacher effects since the teacher taught both conditions.

We measured student achievement using a 17-item assessment given at both the beginning and end of the unit which included items to measure both conceptual and procedural understanding, following the distinctions set out by Schneider and Stern (2010). Six of the items were taken from previous research studies (Lamon, 1993; Misailidou & Williams, 2003; Siemon, 2009), seven were released NAEP items, and four were adapted from the school assessments.

Results showed that students in the condition that promoted embodied actions had significantly greater learning gains on the assessment as a whole than the students who did not. This difference was driven by the learning gains in on the conceptual items of the assessment. Both conditions of students had similar learning gains on the procedural items; however, the students who learned through direct embodiment had significantly greater learning gains on the conceptual items.

Our findings indicate that learning through direct embodiment can significantly improve conceptual understanding of students. These results also offer support for the continued development of instructional activities that promote the embodiment of mathematics concepts.

Authors

• Carmen Petrick Smith, University of Vermont

• Taylor Martin, Utah State University