Hands-on math insights: teachers' mismatched gestures boost learning.As teachers instruct a child, they typically use their hands as well as their voices, but only certain gestures pack a powerful educational punch, a new study suggests. Grade-schoolers best learn how to solve a particular mathematics problem when a teacher's gestures convey different information than his or her words do, say Melissa A. Singer and Susan Goldin-Meadow, both psychologists at the University of Chicago. The combination of hearing one problem-solving strategy in speech and seeing another in gesture fosters more math insight than speech and gestures describing the same strategy do, the researchers propose in the February Psychological Science. Results are worst when the teacher verbally describes two problem-solving strategies, with or without accompanying gestures. Youngsters in these situations may be encountering too much verbal information presented too quickly, Singer and Goldin-Meadow theorize the·o·rize v. the·o·rized, the·o·riz·ing, the·o·riz·es v.intr. To formulate theories or a theory; speculate. v.tr. To propose a theory about. . "Gesture has an active hand in learning," Goldin-Meadow says. "Teachers may need to pay more attention to how they use gestures." The researchers studied 160 third and fourth graders, ages 8 to 10. Each child initially failed to solve mathematical-equivalence problems, such as 6+4+3 = -- +3. The children were then verbally taught either one or two problem-solving strategies in roughly half-hour sessions. One approach, the equalizer strategy, adds the numbers on the left side of an equation and then determines how much to add to the number on the right side to get the same total. This strategy highlights the problem's underlying principle. In the other tactic, dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. the add-subtract strategy, a child adds up the numbers on the left side of an equation and then subtracts the number on the right from the leftside total. Each form of verbal instruction was presented in one of three situations: no accompanying gestures, gestures that matched the tactic being described, or gestures that matched the alternative tactic. For the equalizer strategy, matching gestures consisted of a hand sweep under the left side of a written equation, a drop of the hand, and then a hand sweep under the right side. For the add-subtract strategy, matching gestures included pointing consecutively to each number on the left side, followed by a flick-away gesture near the right-side number. On a test administered after instruction, kids performed best and provided the most thorough explanations of their reasoning after the teacher had explained one strategy verbally and used mismatching Mismatching is the term given to the alleged negative effect that affirmative action has when it places a student into a college that is allegedly too diffucult for her. For example, according to the theory, in the absence of affirmative action, a student will be admitted to a college gestures. The combination of equalizer delivered verbally and add-subtract shown in gestures yielded the highest average scores. Related studies indicate that children on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of understanding mathematical equivalence exhibit flawed flaw 1 n. 1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness: a flaw in the crystal that caused it to shatter. See Synonyms at blemish. 2. verbal reasoning Verbal reasoning is understanding and reasoning using concepts framed in words. It aims at evaluating ability to think constructively, rather than at simple fluency or vocabulary recognition. combined with gestures that depict valid strategies (SN: 3/17/01, p. 172). The new finding that gestures not matched to speech promote learning demands closer study, remarks psychologist Martha W. Alibali Martha W. Alibali is Professor of Educational Psychology in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an investigator at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research[1]. of the University of Wisconsin-Madison “University of Wisconsin” redirects here. For other uses, see University of Wisconsin (disambiguation). A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a wide spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs, and student activities. . It's not clear why the mismatch mismatch 1. in blood transfusions and transplantation immunology, an incompatibility between potential donor and recipient. 2. one or more nucleotides in one of the double strands in a nucleic acid molecule without complementary nucleotides in the same position on the other of gestures and speech is effective or whether it yields similar benefits in teaching other math concepts, Alibali says. |
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