Hands a tool of learning

It is not a secret that math is a hard subject to learn. However, using gestures could be a solution for a fundamental understanding of it. In the article, "Learning from gesture: How our hands change our minds," the authors explained how producing gestures could support learning. They found that when children used their hands, it facilitated the use of new strategies to solve a math problem. Also, it helped them to do well in a paper-pencil test. In comparison to those who did not use their hands, it was challenging to create new strategies to solve the problem. 

Gestures do not only help to learn math but also; help students to learn new words in different languages.  A study done by Shariyta Forrest at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that pair words with gestures help students on learning new words. In this study, students were learning mandarin; no one of the students has previous experience with mandarin. Researchers found that students remember the words best were those who learned them with the aim of gestures when compared with those who learn without gesture. Therefore, they suggest that gesture can facilitate the learning of a new language.

Elizabeth M. Wakefield, Assistant Professor at the University of Loyola at Chicago, has conducted the first study on understanding the neural connections that occurred during learning through gestures. She examined the neural mechanisms of learning math through gesture by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This research taught children to solve mathematical equivalence problems using speech and gesture or speech alone. The researchers chose children who successfully solved the math problems for the neuroimaging study. Children who learn used gestures and speech showed significant activation of motor regions such as frontal premotor region and parietal regions. Also, the same children expressed a dense activation in the angular gyrus, an area that is involved in math problems. These regions were not active as equal magnitude in children who learned by speech alone.  This study demonstrates that learning with gestures leads to lasting neural trace of the motor system, which suggests the beneficial effects of learning through gestures. 

Furthermore,  gestures can improve the learning of challenging subjects such as math and foreign languages. Encouraging professors to incorporate gestures while explaining a complicated topic could support education, and understanding the mechanism could change the way of teaching.

Citation:

Forrest, Sharita. “Study: Gestures Help Students Learn New Words in Different Languages.”ILLINOIS.edu, Illinois News Bureau, 29 Jan. 2019, https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/745146.  

Novack, Miriam, and Susan Goldin-Meadow. “Learning from Gesture: How Our Hands Change Our Minds.”Educational Psychology Review, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2015, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4562024/.

Wakefield, Elizabeth M., et al. “Learning Math by Hand: The Neural Effects of Gesture-Based Instruction in 8-Year-Old Children.”SpringerLink, Springer US, 20 May 2019, https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13414-019-01755-y.