Role of an Embodied Science Simulation in Students' Gestures and Experimental Growth: A Case Study

• In Event: Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Research in Science Learning and Teaching Poster Session 1

Abstract

Critical science phenomena exhibit nonlinear changes, but students frequently struggle to differentiate them from linear processes. Leveraging students’ physical intuitions and encouraging embodied interaction with these ideas may aid them in grounding abstract ideas and apply them effectively to concrete science problems. We developed a series of simulations to facilitate student reasoning about non-linear scales across multiple content areas that utilize the Xbox Kinect depth-sensing camera. In this case study, we report on the role of an embodied simulation in eliciting students’ gestures on the topic of quantitative growth in the amplitude of earthquakes. These representative cases suggest that students can progress in their reasoning about non-linear relationships with little direct instruction through their interactions with an embodied earthquake simulation.

Authors

• Sahar Alameh, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

• Stephanie Sroczynski, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

• Robb Lindgren, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Jason W Morphew, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign