Affiliation:
1. University of Wisconsin Madison
Abstract
Abstract
Teachers often use gestures to connect representations of mathematical ideas. This research examined (1) whether
such linking gestures help students understand connections among representations and (2) whether sets of gestures that include
repeated handshapes and motions – termed gestural catchments – are particularly beneficial. Undergraduates viewed
one of four video lessons connecting two representations of multiplication. In the control lesson, the instructor
produced beat gestures that did not link the representations. In the link-only lesson, the instructor used
gestures to link representations, but the gestures did not form a catchment. In the consistent-catchment lesson,
the instructor highlighted corresponding elements of the two representations using identical gestures. In the
inconsistent-catchment lesson, the instructor highlighted non-corresponding elements of the two
representations using identical gestures. Participants who saw the lesson with the consistent catchment – which highlighted
similarities between representations – were most likely to understand the novel representation and to report learning from the
lesson.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Subject
Linguistics and Language,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology,Communication,Cultural Studies