Attending to the Missing Role of Gestures in Representational Fluency

• In Event: Embodied, Personal, and Artistic: Reasoning With Gestures and Representations

Abstract

In this study, we examined students’ representational fluency (Lesh et al., 1987; Moore et al., 2013) in a semi-structured making environment. Specifically, we considered how students rely on gestures and other forms of representations to convey their mathematical thinking. In our analysis of video data of students engaging in non-formal makerspace robotic activities, we found that gestures add value for understanding students' experiences and communication in non-formal making activities. Prior works on representational fluency frameworks are missing an important element - gestures. Through this theoretical contribution, we extend the prior representational fluency model from five elements to six: Realistic, Concrete, Pictorial, Language, Symbolic, and Gestural.

Authors

• Nihal Katirci, University of Maryland - College Park

• Ekta Shokeen, University of Maryland - College Park

• Amber Simpson, Binghamton University - SUNY

• Caroline "Caro" Cassie-Marie Williams-Pierce, University of Maryland, College Park