Friday, March 7, 2025

 

Teachers! gestures facilitate students! Learning: A lesson in symmetry

                                                  by

                      Laura Valenzano Martha W. Alibali, b, sand Roberta Klatzkya

Summary

The study puts forth the idea that factors influencing students' comprehension of spoken language also play a significant role in their understanding of the language employed in educational contexts. These factors encompass clarity of the message, the relevance of content, nonverbal cues, organization, engagement, pacing and repetition, tone and intonation, feedback, and integration. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the significance of gestures as a form of nonverbal communication in teaching and learning. It specifically highlights how gestures can provide substantial proof to enhance lesson content. For instance, using gestures to clarify concepts—like pointing to a shape to emphasize symmetry or tracing a line to illustrate an idea—demonstrates the educational value of gestures in making abstract notions more tangible and enriching the overall content of the lesson.

This research was conducted with 25 children, averaging 4 years and 6 months old, from two classrooms in a university laboratory preschool. The survey utilized a controlled environment featuring a table, two chairs, a small television VCR, and a video camera. This arrangement helped maintain consistency and reduce external distractions, allowing researchers to concentrate on the effects of gestures during the lessons.

 The experiment followed a three-stage approach: a pretest, the main lesson, and a post-test. During the pretest, the experimenter inquired whether the children were familiar with the term "symmetry" and presented four items (cross, letter C, mitten, and heart) for them to identify symmetrical versus non-symmetrical objects by circling the symmetrical ones.

 In the main lesson, the children were randomly divided into two groups to watch either a video-only lesson or a verbal-plus-gestures video lesson. Both videos had identical audio tracks and features with similar numbering, differing only in the use of gestures, which were illustrated through pointing and tracing in the verbal-plus-gestures video.

 The students did not spend time piecing together the twelve halves required to form the six items (cup, wristwatch, diamond ring, a pair of feet, a pair of pants, and a leaf) used as a posttest for evaluating their comprehension of symmetrical and non-symmetrical objects.

The researchers systematically analyzed and categorized the results from the experiments using coding. They focused on three main categories: content, correctness, and presentation of gestures, which were graded on a scale from 0 to 6. To enhance the analysis, the content was examined through various lenses, including sides, mirrors, halves, irrelevant, and don’t know explanations. Each explanation was also coded to indicate whether gestures were used or not. Additionally, head turns were coded to evaluate the students’ levels of focus.

 To ensure the study's reliability and consistency, a subsample of seven children from the verbal clip was evaluated by a second coder to assess the head turns. The pretest, lesson, and post-test results were all analyzed comprehensively. The performance was statistically analyzed across participants and items, with all hypotheses being directional, leading to the application of one-tailed tests of significance. Cohen’s d was utilized to compare the differences between the two groups, providing insight into the effect sizes.

 From the analysis, the following findings emerged:

- Students exposed to the verbal-plus-gestures video condition provided more items than those in the video-only condition when both evaluative decisions and reasoning were considered.

- The verbal-plus-gestures video condition yielded a greater number of judgments compared to the video-only condition.

- No significant difference was noted between the two conditions overall.

- The verbal-plus-gestures condition offered more mirror explanations, while the video-only condition included more irrelevant content.

- Judgments from both sides and mirror analysis indicated that children in the verbal-plus-gestures condition provided more advanced explanations.

- Students in the verbal-plus-gestures condition demonstrated greater focus and answered more questions correctly regarding symmetry.

In conclusion, despite some limitations of the study such as the specific nature of the types of gestures used and the lack of realistic instructional settings, the findings broaden our understanding of the significant role that gestures play in influencing student comprehension. This, in turn, extends to their overall learning of concepts. In conclusion, despite some limitations of the study such as the specific nature of the types of gestures used and the lack of realistic instructional settings, the findings broaden our understanding of the significant role that gestures play in influencing student comprehension. This, in turn, extends to their overall learning of concepts.

 Stop 1

“Students! comprehension may be challenged by instructional discourse that presents new concepts and uses unfamiliar terms”. Page 188

This quote speaks to me because it highlights the critical role of preparing lesson notes or plans. By clearly outlining our teaching steps, we can better connect what students already know to new concepts. A well-prepared lesson is essential for tackling the difficulties that come with presenting unfamiliar ideas and vocabulary. Without this preparation, we risk creating misunderstandings that can impede students' overall understanding of the material.

Additionally, gestures can play a powerful role in helping overcome these challenges. They serve as visual or physical representations of abstract concepts or complex terms, which can be incredibly useful when we’re crafting our lessons. For instance, as mentioned in the article, the teacher introduced new vocabulary by tracing shapes or pointing to relevant examples, which helped students relate the unknown to their existing knowledge. Careful planning allows educators to effectively incorporate gestures into their teaching strategies, enhancing the learning experience. How can I prepare my lesson to ensure that the gesture used in the class is beneficial to students of all learning styles?

 Stop 2

” Gestures may serve to capture students! attention precisely because they link speech to the physical environment”. Page 201

This resonates with me because the significance of gestures in classroom teaching and learning is crucial. It's vital to make mathematics more relatable to students. I believe that when a teacher delivers lessons with passion and utilizes body language to demonstrate concepts, it truly engages students and ignites their curiosity about the subject. I recall a time when I was teaching my students about the parts of a circle. I used my hand to illustrate each element, tracing and pointing out features like the circumference, radius, arc, diameter, and chord. It made the lesson more interactive and memorable for them.

Area Circle Geometry 

 Question: do young children perceive gestures the way older children do in the teaching and learning environment? In what ways can educators use gestures to make lessons interesting to younger children?

2 comments:

  1. Hi Clementina,

    Thank you for your summary and responses. I completely agree that lesson planning is essential for a successful lesson. I've often heard it said that teaching is the easiest part of the job, with planning, grading, and communicating with stakeholders being much more burdensome. I wonder, though, to answer your question, when we plan lessons, should we also plan specific gestures to accompany our content and make sure to highlight them in our preparations?

    Your second question is really interesting! As a secondary school teacher, I’m also curious about the differences in how gestures are perceived compared to younger students. In my experience, the "magic" of school tends to fade in secondary school, especially as the years progress. By then, students often become more focused on the workload, grades, and the pressure of exams. Classes, at times, can feel "boring" or more routine, which might make it harder for students to engage fully. The enthusiasm that younger children have for learning, where everything feels like a new adventure, seems to give way to a more pragmatic, sometimes disengaged, attitude as they get older.

    I would tend to think that younger children might be more receptive to gestures and more easily captivated by them, but it seems you may think otherwise!

    Looking forward to your thoughts!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thankyou Clementina for the summary and response. I too agree with both of you that lesson plan is very important part of teaching. During my teaching years, I had to prepare lesson plan which should include the activities suitable for all the students in the class. I actually never really used gestures in my lesson plans before. I've done many activities, but I realize now how intentional gestures would make it an impact on strengthening ideas. Your question made me think about ways in which I could plan gestures more thoughtfully to complement different learning styles.
    I agree that older students lose interest in learning due to academic stress and boredom. So they might be interested in simply completing their classes. On the other hand, young children naturally appear to employ gestures more since they consider learning a game, while older students might need more deliberate strategies to get them interested.

    ReplyDelete

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wt0T0dCiKgBP60AqfJYY2-SnVqvEEy7L/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=110902289334019534432&rtpof=true&...